Timespan
by Reaper Nanashi
Summary: [Threeshot] The hero became a villain. Is the villain still a hero? The world is changing, and in the face of Akatsuki's leader, Naruto must make a choice. Time waits for no one. [Parts one, two, and three of the Timesaver quadrilogy]
1. Timeserver

**Author's Notes:** I was always intending to post this, but not for a while (until I finished the fourth part); I decided to go ahead with it, though, since it can stand alone. If this is suddenly showing up as new material (it shouldn't, I don't think) please note that this is a cleanup and not a brand-new post—**keep in mind that this work is from 2007, so what applies as of 2013 may not have applied then.** At the time, there were three popular but unproven rumors which I made use of here: that Tobi is Obito, that Akatsuki's leader is the Fourth, and that the Fourth is Naruto's father. Enjoy!

**Title:** Timeserver (part one of the _Timespan_ triad from the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy)

**Author:** Reaper Nanashi (Lady Shinigami)

**Pairing:** MinaKushi (in passing)

**Word Count:** 7,809 (**Total:** 7,809)

**Type:** One-shot (Complete)

**Rating:** T (bad words, blood, violence)

**Date Submitted:** 7/22/07 (**Cleanup:** 1/5/13)

**Disclaimer:** I can dream, can't I?

**Claimer:** The Time-related stuff, except for the one technique, which you'll recognize as soon as you read it.

**Summary:** The opportunity to confront the leader of Akatsuki has arrived and Naruto and Kakashi are in for a battle they had never expected. Time is not on their side.

**The Reasoning Behind It:** So I was a little behind on my Naruto information, and when I stopped at a Yondaime LJ community I occasionally visited, I found all these people tossing out theories—they were _only_ theories, however, not known fact—as to how the Fourth might be the leader of Akatsuki. I saw _no_ way that this could be possible, but I somehow decided that since I didn't believe it, I had to write the exact opposite and find a way to actually make it at least half plausible (Haha! Fear ze logic!). Thus I present you with this odd little gem; whether it's polished or tarnished is up to you.

* * *

Timeserver – _noun_ – **opportunist**: somebody whose opinions and behavior change to suit the times and circumstances without regard for principle

* * *

Naruto increased his speed as he heard the sounds of a great battle fall silent. There was an arching doorway ahead, pure blackness beyond, but he plowed into it fearlessly or—depending on who was asked—stupidly. He drew to a sharp stop when he realized the darkness had been a ruse—the large chamber he had entered was actually lit by massive torches that were suspended from the ceiling on heavy spiked chains. Before him was a large and very ugly wooden statue with nine closed eyes and bound hands. To his left was Kakashi, chained to the wall so he could not perform any techniques, and his mask had been pulled down so he could be gagged. With the situation at hand, though, finally seeing his teacher's face was easily the last thing on Naruto's mind. With no goal except helping an ally and a precious person, he started to run to the jounin, who had no serious injuries he could see but was still badly bruised and unconscious. It was a startling sight—Naruto rarely saw him that way.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

"I wouldn't do that," a cool voice said smoothly.

Naruto skidded to a halt and whirled angrily. It took him a moment to locate the speaker, who was standing curiously still in the unnaturally dark shadow of one of the massive wooden statue's upraised hands. By the odd and only vaguely human shape of the silhouette, it was easy to see that the speaker was with Akatsuki. "Fuck you!" he spat, and turned to continue toward his teacher.

"I was told you might feel that way."

Even though a considerable distance had been between him and the Akatsuki member, he did not have time to do anything but shift his weight to his other foot; abruptly in front of him was the familiar coat of a night sky bearing clouds reflecting a dawn light. He reeled back to dodge as he saw the man draw one arm back to punch him, but by the time he blinked he could feel knuckles forcing shards of his freshly-shattered nose deep into his face. He was flung swiftly across the chamber and would have gone on for a while longer, surely, if the wall had not been there. A pointed portion of rock dug into his spine ruthlessly until he collapsed to the floor. He coughed to try to regain his stolen breath and spit out a mouthful of blood.

"Will you listen now?" the man asked mildly.

Naruto looked past him at Kakashi, who was showing signs of returning to consciousness, then refocused on the man and snarled. "Bastard . . ."

"I assure you," was the reply, "I'm of quite legitimate heritage."

Naruto growled and lunged to his feet. The Akatsuki member did not flinch at his furious approach, but an instant before he struck he felt a strange backward pull on his whole body. The next thing he knew the man was a step to the right. He staggered and came around for a renewed strike, but he was unbalanced and the man kicked him away. His impact with the wall was much harder the second time, as the wall was a different one and far nearer.

"You're welcome to listen at any point," the man informed him.

Naruto looked over at Kakashi again. The platinum-haired jounin was looking at him, left eye closed to keep Sharingan-inspired exhaustion at bay a little longer, and the steady gaze was enough of a command. Naruto glared at the Akatsuki member. ". . . _Fine_! Spit it out so I can kick your ass!"

The man, unimpressed by the threat, lowered his head slightly as he lifted his right hand to remove his kasa. All that Naruto could see at first was spiky reddish hair, but Kakashi's wide eyes and shocked jerk backward caused him to become very anxious about the man's appearance. "Kakashi," the man offered in polite greeting, "I'm glad you're doing well. I've heard rumors, of course, but I wanted to see for myself."

The kasa was fully removed and the man turned to Naruto, who felt his jaw drop in disbelief at the sight of strangely familiar blue eyes set in an even more recognizable face. The hair was different, just a little, but the face was very much the same as what he had seen on the Monument and in various pictures throughout Konoha. "N . . . No way . . . You . . . You're _dead_ . . ."

"The Yondaime Hokage is dead," the man acknowledged, "but I am not."

"If you're not the Yondaime Hokage, then who the hell _are_ you?!" Naruto demanded.

"A man who lost everything in one night," the man answered. "Nothing more."

"_Bullshit_!" Naruto barked heatedly, and the man blinked. "A lot of people lose like that and they don't turn into murderers! They _get over it_!"

"No, they don't," the man corrected calmly. "They simply choose to not do anything about it." Naruto glared, confused, and the man explained, "They don't know whom to attack. Or if they do, they're either too weak or too afraid—or both—to dare it. I am neither weak nor afraid, and I know exactly whom I need to attack."

"Then why not do it?!"

"I am." The man turned away and looked up at the statue. "I've been researching for years and recruiting some of the brightest minds the world can offer. It's taken this long—all of your life so far—but I'm almost ready to declare victory." He looked back at Naruto and his gaze fell to the genin's stomach.

Naruto growled and covered with one hand the seal that kept the kyuubi in him. "And?" he prodded. "What about when you win? What kind of life are you going to enjoy then, after you've dedicated so much time and effort to this . . . _whatever_ this is?"

The man turned fully to him. "Me?" He chuckled softly. "I'm not doing this for _my_ life." Naruto opened his mouth to contradict him, but before he could actually speak the man quietly added, "I'm doing it for yours."

Naruto gaped. "_Mine_? What the hell . . .?"

"I wanted them to accept you," the man replied. "Honor you. But I knew they wouldn't. They would be much too scared and angry to bother with the effort. I asked Sandaime-sama to watch over you in my absence and did what I had not had time for before—researched extraction and sealing techniques."

Naruto snarled. "So you can kill me like you did Gaara? You think that's something you'll be doing for the sake of _my_ life, asshole?!"

The man's eyes flickered with some emotion, but it had been so quick it was impossible to make out. "Your friend dealt with an unfortunate mistake, as did the vessel of the nibi. We're missing one member, you see, and thus the control required from each of us performing the jutsu has changed. It has taken us some time to rediscover the necessary balance." He looked at Naruto calmly. "I don't want to kill you and I didn't want to kill your friend. The imperfection has been rectified—extracting the kyuubi won't be painless, but you won't die."

Naruto looked hard at the man who had at one time been the Fourth Hokage. Though he had been warned that the seal was weakening and the kyuubi's power was taking over, Naruto was not worried about that in the face of what Akatsuki would do with the huge bijuu if they possessed the great fox's spirit. He told the man that, though not nearly as politely as he had thought it, and was shocked beyond belief when the man smiled not in an evil way, but in a soft and proud way.

"That's good," he said. "I'm glad you want to protect others. That's how I wanted you to grow up."

Naruto was quiet, baffled. It was difficult to taunt and backtalk someone who was both apparently unaffected by it on top of lacking in such ego that his intentions could not be bruised and offended. Naruto had also expected there to be evil laughter and verbal aggression, but there had never been any of those even when the man had been beating him around. And the physical aggression itself had been more self-defense than any negative feelings; the man had not derived any obvious pleasure from hitting him despite clearly having the upper hand, and once he decided to listen the man had made no further motion to attack.

Kakashi made some noise, muffled by his gag, and the once-Hokage walked to him and removed the cloth, though the jounin's mask was left down in case the gag would need to be reapplied later. "Sorry about that."

"How . . .? _Why_ . . .?"

"I assume 'how' is how I survived. I used a shadow clone to perform the sealing, and I had to lie low after I put so much chakra into it. Actually, we all thought I was going to die, but I didn't." He flicked at a lock of his red hair. "This is just dyed and trimmed so the others don't figure out who I am too quickly. I did want to tell you I was alive, but I also decided I had to correct my mistake and Sandaime-sama said it might be better if, rather than learning I was alive only to know that I was leaving, you simply believed I was dead. I didn't and don't like that, but I do think that it was easiest on you, even if you disagree. As for 'why,' I already explained that. It's for him."

"I didn't _ask_ you to do this!" Naruto barked angrily.

The man straightened and turned to him. "Nor did I ask your permission when I sealed the kyuubi inside you. I don't see the difference."

Suddenly, a young man with an odd orange mask that shielded his whole face from view appeared next to the Fourth, who inclined his head as the new arrival whispered to him. He then said, "I see. Tell them I'm finishing my preparations and will be summoning them shortly. And if they make any protests, Tobi, tell them I don't want to be bothered about it again or I'll kill whoever dares it." The masked man offered an exaggerated salute and the Fourth reached out to smack the back of his head. "Don't disrespect me, you little newbie punk."

The young man danced away, apparently quite entertained, but paused when he noticed Kakashi. Instantly, he stopped and wiggled his fingers in greeting. Though Naruto thought the man was just mocking and being foolish, Kakashi had a completely different reaction. Looking as though he were just on the verge of passing out from shock, he asked weakly, ". . . Obito . . .?"

The masked man jerked back as though burned and quickly vanished. Desperately, Kakashi looked to the once-Hokage for confirmation. The reply was somewhat vague, but not so vague as to be indecipherable. "He was in Hidden Grass. He had near-total amnesia when I found him, but he's been recalling little things here and there since then." A pause. "He was very glad when I told him that you were all right."

". . . But he—"

"He's highly self-conscious about his appearance; you won't be able to get him to take that mask off. I barely can, and only on his 'good days'—whatever constitutes such a thing in his mind."

Kakashi looked at the floor and the Fourth snapped, "Don't do that." Kakashi looked up promptly, startled. "Don't pity him or me or yourself, and don't you dare think there was anything more you could have done. Even though you were skilled then, you didn't have the experience. You can't compare who you are at this moment to who you were then and pretend there was a better option. You weren't ready to face that at that time and you wouldn't be much better able to face a scenario that is proportionately larger and more dangerous at this time. There will always be someone or something out there that is greater than you, no matter how hard you train, and all you can do is try to prepare and do the best you can to survive if you can't win. I found that out the hard way. There's nothing you can do about the past, so live for who and what you have, not what you lost."

Chastised and feeling like he was five years old all over again, Kakashi nodded meekly.

"He has his orders," the once-Hokage concluded, much more gently, "and if he trusts me like he pretends he does, he'll find you eventually."

"Hypocrite!" Naruto shouted, wrathful.

The Fourth turned to him. "Beg your pardon?"

"_You_!" Naruto accused sharply. "You tell Kakashi-sensei he can't go back in time and fix something he feels responsible for, yet _you_ are trying to do the same thing with me!"

The once-Hokage was not impressed. "Except that Kakashi _can't_ go back in time. I can."

Kakashi's mouth opened and shut several times. ". . . No . . ."

The Fourth snorted softly. "The Hiraishin wasn't about speed, Kakashi—it never was. It was always about _time_. Until I learned to harness it on my own, I had to use those seals to distort the boundaries of Time for me." He shrugged slowly. "It was the family bloodline, so such assistance was available for heirs."

"Bloodline . . .?" Kakashi murmured, shocked. "Kekkei genkai?"

The Fourth held up a small pocket watch that was operating normally, one of his fingers stuck though the loop at the top and all of them spread out to prove that he was not meddling with it. His hand began to glow with released chakra and at first there was no change, but then the watch's hands began to move faster and whirl clockwise madly, as if trying to break loose from their small container. They suddenly stopped, without even slowing down first, and then reversed direction. When they came to a stop a second time, he tucked the thing back into his sleeve. "It's a dangerous ability many covet without even knowing it actually exists. Why do you think the others respect my power? It would only take a moment to reverse time and kill them if they betrayed me."

Several minutes of silence followed that acknowledgement.

". . . I don't get it," Naruto said finally, and both men looked at him. "What difference does it make what happens to me anymore?" His hands fisted angrily. "You did your job—why pick the scab?"

The Fourth gazed at him blankly, then turned to Kakashi. "I believe I'm missing some critical information."

"The Third said no," Kakashi explained softly. "He said it was safer for him."

Naruto looked between them, clearly suspicious.

The Fourth frowned, then mused, "It may indeed be. That will be . . . helpful."

He blinked out and reappeared in front of Naruto, who took a startled step back. "Wha . . .?"

"That is the mastered Hiraishin," the Fourth informed him. "If you're standing still when I slow your time, you can't feel the pull. If I speed up my own time, I achieve the same effect but you feel nothing whether or not you're moving. It is considerably simpler and less taxing, though, to slow your time rather than speed up my own, since it is easier to recreate the past than build the future. Its true name is _Kokontouzai_."

Naruto took another step back. "Why are you . . .?"

The once-Hokage offered him another kind, very much _not_ evil smile. He lifted his hand. With the distance between them and the man's skills with Time, Naruto's first and only instinct at that point was to prepare for a blow, but instead the tip of a finger ran lightly down his nose. "You have your mother's nose—that's good." Naruto stared up at him, shocked, and he tapped the pins in his own. "Mine was always somewhat crooked and I only realized that I had the time to fix it recently." Absently, he added, "Hurts like a bitch, too . . ."

Without thinking Naruto grabbed the Fourth's coat, stuck on the first sentence. "You know my mother?"

"Knew, yes," was the quiet correction. "She was quite a patriot—the kyuubi killed her because she tried to fight him less than an hour after she gave birth to you." Naruto blinked at that news, astonished, and the once-Hokage added, "Everyone in Konoha, in one way or another, is a victim of the kyuubi. Many lost siblings, many lost children, many lost parents. You were most affected by that event, over everyone else. Never let them tell you that you are the cause, or that you're living easily thanks to someone's charity."

"You're a little late, old man," Naruto snarled. "I know that already."

"No, you don't," was the calm contradiction. "If you did, then you'd know far more things about who you are than you do."

"What the hell do you know?!"

"I know you pretend you don't hear their words, yet you later take those words into your heart and dwell on them until you become angry."

Naruto glared—he hated being analyzed—but he was shaken. "How the _hell_ . . .?"

"Even as the leader of Akatsuki I've had some free time with which to do whatever I may choose, to follow whomever I may desire."

Naruto bared his teeth, furious that he had been _spied on_ his whole life, and even more so that such a life had been allowed to continue by the very person who had asked for it to be better. He lifted a threatening fist. "I am going to _kick—your—ass_, you prick."

The Fourth looked at him blankly, eyes flat and mouth twisted to the side in a plainly unexcited way. "Do you enjoy pain that much?"

"Ask me again after you're pulp."

"Don't be stupid, Naruto," Kakashi warned. "You're at an extreme disadvantage. It's not worth the fight. If you're going to do anything, _leave_."

Naruto turned to him and glared, his blood hot with fury at the past minutes' interaction. "_Run_?! Don't give me that, you traitor! I—!"

The once-Hokage took the advantage presented and silenced him with a careful strike to the neck. He caught the blond's body as it collapsed. "Talks an awful lot, doesn't he?"

"Almost constantly," Kakashi acknowledged, craning to try to make sure his student was still all right, "if he thinks he has someone to impress."

The Fourth looked over at him. "Should I show him to you?"

"Yes," Kakashi decided stubbornly.

So the Fourth patiently gathered up Naruto's limp body and carried him to where Kakashi was chained to the chamber wall. "There. See? Now, I'm going to place him by the statue and call the others. There'll probably be an uproar if they realize you're conscious, so you can either act like you're unconscious or I can hit you again. It'll take three days, so you'll probably get bored after a while."

"I'll be fine," Kakashi decided firmly, unmoved by the idea of boredom. If something happened, after all, there might have to be an undoing of whatever had been done and Kakashi wanted to know what had been done so he could make the attempt to undo it.

"Very well." The Fourth collected Naruto again, his motions cautious and gentle. He placed the teenager on the cold damp floor between the wooden statue's hands, flickered away, then reappeared as a quasi-specter. He made a sign with his hand and seconds later the other members of Akatsuki appeared, all in the same state as their leader. Kakashi kept his head low until he was sure they were busy with the extraction, then lifted it enough that he could see the chamber through his lashes. He wanted to use the Sharingan to get details on the technique being used, but did not dare; he had no doubt that it would draw Itachi's attention, if no one else's. Besides, he had heard the name of it and could try researching it from there.

The three days passed by with excruciating slowness. As far as Kakashi was concerned, the worst part was not the boredom but the urgent thirst and gnawing hunger that came with it. It was incredibly trying to his patience and sanity, but he decided that if Akatsuki had done it several times before and not died, then it would be a good test for him to withstand similar torture. Going without sustenance at all for three days was hard on the body, but not entirely impossible to do, particularly since he was not moving a lot.

Naruto, though . . .

Naruto was in pain. His face twitched constantly and occasionally his unconscious form would writhe. He was sweating, too—losing valuable hydration. Kakashi watched and worried, wondering not for the first time if his teacher was really still trustworthy.

There was a sudden, great roar of chakra. Naruto arched backward sharply and let out an involuntary cry of agony. In a powerful burst and a violent swirl of red chakra, the kyuubi's soul was drawn from his body and into the statue's mouth. The isolated center eye flared to life and the pupil blinked open. Naruto, no longer suspended by the strange technique's power, connected hard with the floor and was still. Unable to risk being caught awake, Kakashi put aside trying to decide Naruto's health and lowered his head to feign unconsciousness. It was a good thing that he had, because the next thing he heard was the voice of one of the subordinate Akatsuki members.

"What about them?"

His teacher's voice echoed in the chamber, its flat coldness unfamiliar and somewhat frightening to even his experienced ears. "They're mine." Kakashi kept his head down for nearly ten minutes thereafter. It was around then that he heard a swirl of chakra and a calm and more friendly, "You may raise your head now."

He did so carefully and observed as the Fourth lifted Naruto from the floor and offered a bottle of water. Even unconscious, Naruto was undoubtedly so thirsty that he drank it automatically. The blond flinched against some pain, then began to gasp.

"Oh damn," the Fourth murmured. "I didn't want that."

Before Kakashi could ask what exactly 'that' was, Naruto's back arched inward and he let out a cry of pain, arms flailing to protect himself from an invisible enemy. The Fourth held him tightly as he convulsed and Naruto alternately clawed at and embraced him, wanting to push him away defensively until it was possible to identify him but just as often in so much pain that he needed the support the once-Hokage's grasp offered.

"Shh," the Fourth urged, stroking Naruto's hair with one hand, his face falling with sadness when he saw the tears on the boy's face. "Hold on. I promise it'll be over soon."

Within a couple of minutes the convulsions eased and Naruto's eyes fluttered open. They were unfocused and glazed over with pain and fatigue—he probably still had no idea who was bracing him. ". . . Water . . ."

The Fourth provided instantly, vigilantly controlling how much Naruto drank at one time so he would not choke. "I haven't forgotten about you, Kakashi. This is just going to take a bit longer than I'd intended."

"I'm fine," Kakashi replied, even though his tongue burned with dryness.

The once-Hokage grimaced, apparently hearing the lie. ". . . Damn it . . ." He vanished and then reappeared just half a second later, before Naruto could fall very far. "Just a minute, Kakashi."

Kakashi was about to repeat himself when an Akatsuki coat appeared in front of him. He looked up to find Obito, or rather, _Tobi_—his missing memories _did_ make him someone else, if only slightly—holding a big bottle of water and a ration bar. Tobi knelt down and set the rations aside to open the water bottle, which he held for Kakashi to drink. The water could have been poisoned or otherwise tainted—there was still no telling if either of them was truly trustworthy—but Kakashi was too starved to care and his default response was to trust both of them anyway. When he finished, Tobi slowly fed the rations to him. It tasted like cardboard, as field rations always had, but it did have calories and other important things that would keep him alive a while longer.

"Thanks," he murmured, and Tobi nodded.

A rumble sounded through the room and for a moment it was followed by silence.

"What in the . . ." the Fourth said from his place nearly halfway across the chamber. "The acoustics in here are terrible and I still heard that. Haven't you eaten at _all_?"

One of Tobi's hands went to his stomach and the other disappeared behind his head. He nodded timidly in confirmation.

"Well go eat more. Kakashi will be fine for now."

Tobi disappeared with the water bottle and ration bar wrapper and then returned with the refilled bottle and a new ration bar. He set both items by Kakashi and then, to the jounin's shock, drew a tiny bottle of pancake syrup from his coat and set it down as well. Kakashi stared at it with strangled happiness, taking it as a sign that perhaps Tobi and Obito were not so different.

It had been a sort of team joke—started as a true and honest complaint by Obito, of course, and which Rin had soon picked up on—about the tastelessness of the ration bars. Kakashi had secretly agreed despite his snort of derision, and the Fourth had chuckled his concurrence as he crunched his way through his own with the tolerance, as Kakashi would find out after long years of eating them himself, and acceptance of knowing there was no better option. Obito had then reeled off a list of condiments that he thought would make a ration bar taste more appealing, starting with ketchup and ending with syrup. In the next village, to shut him up, Kakashi had quietly purchased a travel-size bottle of syrup and presented it—rather, had thrown it at his teammate's head—the next time Obito began to whine. Instead of being annoyed for being taken so seriously, Obito had been delighted and promptly shared the sweet treat with everyone, including young platinum-haired geniuses who had not _wanted_ sticky, drippy syrup on their rations. It was such a hit that "We need syrup," quickly became team code for, 'We need to improve this situation.'

"Thanks," Kakashi murmured again, unsure of what else to say or do.

Fortunately, Obito—_Tobi_—was not socially disconnected despite his injury, and hugged him with startling warmth. The surprise did not last very long, though. Knowing it was Obito behind the mask and having not had his defensive side provoked, Kakashi's first reaction was not to fight back but to instead return the gesture, which he had wanted to do for years after he had believed it to be too late. For the effort, his wrists received sharp discipline from the chains that bound him, sadly, and all her could do was squeeze the other's shoulder with his chin. Tobi seemed pleased by the gesture, though, which he conveyed by patting Kakashi on the head affectionately. It was something Obito had done long ago to emphasize their difference in height even though it was Kakashi's age that had proven him to be a better shinobi at first.

Once Tobi was gone, the Fourth explained as he tended to a half-conscious Naruto, "I'd let you loose, but you'd only hover and we all need space right now."

Kakashi took mild offense at that—mild because after all he had endured during his life it was actually the truth—and waited. Naruto was still propped against the Fourth's chest, cradled in the once-Hokage's gentle grip so he would not fall. "How is he?"

"Still weak." The Fourth shook his head at that. "He'll be this way for a few more hours yet. After that he'll be able to walk and act the same as before, but his chakra paths will need to be kept stagnant for a couple of months." He looked up. "You'll have to watch out for him until he learns his limits, Kakashi. Without the kyuubi's power, he won't heal nearly as quickly as he used to, though I imagine he would still heal faster than you or me."

"Still?"

"At least for a time, the kyuubi's chakra will taint his own. It may eventually be used up, or it may be parasitic and perpetuate itself for the rest of his life by mutating various portions of his chakra. I don't really know and I can't hypothesize—this has never been done before."

Kakashi was crushed by a swell of concern for his favorite delinquent. "How do you know it won't kill him anyway, then?"

The Fourth sighed. "I've seen it. He at least survives to be nineteen."

"You can see the future?"

"_Kokugen_," was the patient response. "Past or present, if I choose a person and a hypothetical situation I can see thousands of possible outcomes, though nothing definitive—no hows or whys. I take an average of those things I see to decide which is most likely to occur."

Kakashi did not like his teacher's expression. Wanting to know but not wanting to say anything accusatory for the time being, he asked, "And?"

The once-Hokage absently ran the backs of two fingers along Naruto's cheek, then looked up. "I am going to disband Akatsuki once the bijuu are gone, Kakashi, and then try to stop myself from sealing the kyuubi into Naruto. It will be the only chance at a normal life that he will ever have and I'll need all of my chakra to attempt it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to return, so I ask that you never allow Akatsuki, in any form, to reorganize. If given just a hint of leeway, they'll take revenge on the jinchuuriki for their failed ideals."

"Their ideals?"

"I only ever said I wanted the bijuu, but they have twisted that to suit themselves." He shook his head. "It was my error, to be so involved in this that I didn't control them better, but trying to correct them at this point would be useless. I'd have to kill them, but for now I still need them, and I couldn't take them all on at once anyway."

"How can you be sure? Why can't you just slow time?"

"It's not that simple. Slowing the time of seven individuals simultaneously would be too draining. I would have to use a mid- to far-range area-based technique—rather than a short-range individual-based one—to sustain the reduction for any useful length of time, which would mean I couldn't have someone assist me or that person would be affected as well. Increasing my own time would cost me nearly as much." He sighed heavily. "Sealing the kyuubi with the shadow clone stripped me of half of everything I once was, including my soul. Though I've learned many new things since then, including how to balance what chakra I can produce, I can't deal with Akatsuki in the way I'm sure you undoubtedly remember me doing with others in the past. Employing the seal tags that I once utilized would take years of intense study and coordination for such a specialized task, and even at full strength I could never have slowed the world's time for more than forty-five seconds. Now it would be fewer than thirteen."

He shook his head again. "I need help, Kakashi. Even without the kyuubi, Naruto's skill with Time will be stronger than mine if he trains himself properly. I know he won't listen to me, but I think he'll listen to you. If you can encourage him so that he learns just three-quarters of what makes a master of Time, anyone from Akatsuki who seeks revenge will be no threat to him if he fights intelligently. But if you can't get him to try, his chances of survival will be only thirty percent. He's lucky, but it can only carry him so far."

Naruto flinched and groaned quietly, his body tensing against the pain he was still feeling. The Fourth bent over him, crooning softly, and after a moment he relaxed.

"Where is all this information?" Kakashi demanded. "You can't expect me to _know_ it if it's a kekkei genkai."

The Fourth tossed an advanced training shuriken at him. Threaded through the center hole was a string, which was tied to a folded piece of paper. There was no way for him to dodge it, but its rotation was not fast so he took the risk and caught it in his teeth, which immediately began to ache in protest. "The instructions are there."

With a considerable amount of imaginative shifting and contortion, Kakashi managed to tuck the shuriken into the collar of his flak jacket. "You knew I would help?"

The Fourth shook his head a third time. "I didn't expect anything—I couldn't. You're a bit of a wild card, Kakashi, and it's been entertaining to try to figure out what sets you apart from everyone else. You're just as likely to pretend to agree with me—and then hide everything from Naruto under the impression that I'm lying—as you are to agree with me in earnest. At this point I still don't know which you will choose; the future is never set in stone and it's quite possible that something will cause you to reject my request, though I pray desperately otherwise. I may control Time, but I can't control _you_. And even if I could do that, there's still Naruto's will to consider. If you do accept me, he may still reject me. If I could control you I could never control him—his blood offers a natural resistance to anyone trying to tamper with his time. I've been able to get around that today, but only because he has no experience."

The scenario was practically unreal to Kakashi, first finding out his best friend as well as his teacher—both mourned as dead—were actually _alive_, and then coming to the distinctly painful conclusion that he had known far less about his teacher than he had, in hindsight, rather arrogantly assumed.

"Whether you choose to side with me one more time or finally go against me, Kakashi," the once-Hokage concluded, absently shifting his arm and center of balance as Naruto began to struggle toward consciousness, "I'll hold no grudge. All I ask is that you make your choice based on what you feel is best for Naruto's future, and not attempt to strike at me through him. I know you know he's not involved in this, and any anger you carry is not a burden you have a right to force on him."

Kakashi nodded obediently as Naruto blinked himself awake, then threw himself from the Fourth's gentle and unrestricting grasp with a yelp. The jounin did not fail to notice—though it was hidden well—his teacher's twinge of pain at the fresh rejection. "I understand."

With Naruto moving about freely, the Fourth crossed the chamber to where Kakashi was chained and freed him. Voice hard with suppressed hurt as he watched the younger blond scowl at him, the once-Hokage announced, "If that's true, then I have no further need of either of you—you may both go."

"Obito?" Kakashi blurted as he massaged his wrists and then his shoulders.

"I told you, Kakashi, that he has his orders. Know, however, that should he seek you out, I have indeed died or am otherwise irretrievable. He'll need you, in my place, to help him regain his memories. Do not push him to show his face—he will do it eventually, when he knows you won't feel guilty."

"How can I not?!"

"He didn't _have_ to save your life at the risk of his own, Kakashi," was the response, "but he chose to because you are important to him. He knows that. It was his choice to make, and thus his disfigurement is of his own doing. He does not blame you now—he never did—and has no idea what to do or say if you blame yourself. He _will_ behave shyly if he finds you, and how normally you treat him will decide how and when he removes his mask. Do you understand, Kakashi? The importance of appointing blame _correctly_?"

Kakashi looked chastised, and glanced briefly over to Naruto. There was blame incorrectly placed, without question. "Yes."

"_Yes_?"

Kakashi grimaced, but amended, "Yes, sensei."

"That wasn't what I meant, but all right."

Naruto twitched. "_Sensei_?! You're kidding, right?"

The once-Hokage chuckled, but not in a mean way. "Someone had to help him refine the basic techniques and teach him more complex ones, correct?"

"Yeah, but . . . _you_?"

The Fourth inclined his head and smiled in bemusement. "I'm not sure I follow. Even if you think I'm evil incarnate, you must realize my strength."

Naruto snarled silently, gaze harsh, and bit out firmly, "I don't."

The Fourth blinked. "Are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"Yes," Kakashi confirmed with a sigh. "He's not all that bright about taking care with whom he offends."

Naruto snarled audibly at being undermined. "Damn it, Kakashi-sensei, whose side are you on?!"

The Fourth blinked again, and then the chamber resounded with happy laughter. When he calmed down, he said, "What familiar behavior! No wonder you get into so many fights!"

Naruto frowned. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you bite off a bit more than you can chew, knowing nothing about who your opponent is or what his capabilities are. Your strength is rare, though, so you almost always win those indiscriminate battles."

Naruto, frustrated, correctly assumed that Kakashi would stop him if he attacked the other man again. He poked out his tongue, but regretted it when the once-Hokage grabbed it.

"Be careful about which parts of yourself you choose to stick out at a given moment," the Fourth advised. "Or you may just lose them."

Naruto tried to chomp down on the Fourth's fingers, but the other was faster and moved to pull him closer instead. Drawn off balance, he staggered into the once-Hokage's cloaked body and was carefully embraced. He tried to twist and break free, unsure of what pain was going to be wrought on him for his unwariness, but when he attempted to move his whole body was in an inexplicable state of sluggishness. It only took a brief moment for him to realize the Fourth had slowed the passage of Naruto's time, and though he kept attempting violently to speed his own motion up, the Fourth calmly cradled his head and back and _hugged him_. There was no other term for such a gentle restraint.

When he got his head thrown back at last he saw the Fourth—who appeared to be on the worn side—looking at Kakashi. "Are you that trusting or still in shock?"

". . . Little of both," Kakashi confessed. "If I thought you really wanted to hurt him, I wouldn't be standing here like this."

The Fourth smiled. "Good. By the way, thank you for watching over him all this time. I'd be very grateful if you'd pass along my thanks to the old perv." He gazed at Naruto, who stared back at the still-familiar eyes of blue, then dropped his head and pressed a kiss to the stunned blond's forehead. "You should go home now so I can deal with the bijuu safely."

In an instant, Naruto and Kakashi found themselves standing side by side right in front of the chamber exit. They looked at one another, perplexed, having experienced the mastered Hiraishin for the first time. Kakashi started to turn to look at the chamber, but froze obediently at a sharp and angry, "_No_." Seconds later, however, the same voice said in an entirely different tone, "Naruto."

Naruto turned obediently, surprised. No one had ever said his name quite like that—the way it rolled so easily off the tongue, as though the person speaking it had practiced for years to get it perfect. It was achingly familiar, but not personally so. He had heard such a tone used hundreds of thousands of times, when a parent called to a child either in admonition or praise or conversation, but it had never been used for _him_; even Iruka had never mastered the tone. Shocked, the most brilliant reply he could offer was a vacant, "Huh?"

The Fourth Hokage, the revered savior of Konoha who had voluntarily become a symbol of evil intention for the opportunity to destroy the bijuu, tilted his head. "Practice the Hiraishin as well as the other techniques in the clan's secret scrolls. The kyuubi's presence has left its mark in you—your chakra reserves will always be great. Learn to use it well and harness Time, for that will be the best replacement in speed and strength for the kyuubi's presence. Do that and nothing you strive for will be beyond your grasp."

Naruto frowned. "Why the hell are you telling _me_ that?"

"It's why I said it was better for you to have your mother's nose than mine." The leader of Akatsuki smiled lopsidedly—fondly—at him. Hanging in the air was a sad and deep but unspoken affection, one he clearly did not dare to reveal lest it be thrown back into his face by Naruto's anger. "I'm proud of you. Take care of yourself."

Naruto was not even able to so much as open his mouth before the influential man was gone from his sight and his life, perhaps for the last time. Not certain he had really heard what he thought he had, he looked up at Kakashi. "His . . . _His_ nose . . .?"

The jounin nodded solemnly. "He felt then—and probably still does—that he had no right to ask others to sacrifice their children if he was not willing to do the same first."

The teenager felt distinctly betrayed by his field instructor's silence on the subject. "Why the hell didn't you ever tell me any of this?! Or old man Sandaime?! Whether my father was alive or dead, what good would it do to keep it a secret?! All I wanted was to know I _had_ a family—it didn't _matter_ if they were all dead!"

Kakashi remained steady. The blond's aggression was far more typical than it was any sort of surprise. "First of all, I knew absolutely nothing about you or him being part of a kekkei genkai, so I claim immunity on that issue before we even get to that part. Second, obviously, it was safer for you if no one knew. He had many enemies and they would have been more than happy to bear that grudge against a helpless infant once he was gone. That aside, why should we have even told you? I understand your desire for a family, but could you really have handled living in his shadow? Why do you think Sandaime and I—and Jiraiya-sama, for that matter—demanded so much from you so quickly? We knew and we saw him in you, and we wanted to prove to you and to ourselves that you had that skill to be at least as great as he was, if not better. You probably can't even tell that it happened because we've done it since the moment you were old enough to learn."

"If that's true, why the hell did you pass me up for Sasuke during the chuunin exams?"

"Maybe you hadn't noticed," Kakashi responded, "but I was the only person in the village who could teach him about the Sharingan. Just because I didn't openly agonize about which of you I was going to train doesn't mean I didn't at all."

"I didn't realize the Chidori was a Sharingan technique," Naruto hissed scathingly.

Kakashi resisted the strong urge to punch the blond in the head. It would definitely have had an effect, but not the desired one. "That was hardly the only thing I taught him, even if he never had the opportunity to display them all. Actually, though, you should still remember them after the fight you had with him." It was an extremely low blow, but it got the point across. "Do you think I'm _cheerful_ about the fact that he misused _everything_ I taught him in that time? He nearly killed you, and just thirteen years before I had promised—I had _sworn_—that I would watch out for you. If he had done it, it would have been the same as if I had struck the blow myself. And . . ." He sighed. "I don't want you to die. You're all I have left."

Sobered by the unusual admission, Naruto gazed around at the emptied chamber silently and then, confused by the conflicting signals he had been receiving from his heart and mind and unsure as to how he should actually feel, he blurted in frustration, "_DAMN IT_!" Relaxed by the pointless and angry outburst, he murmured much more quietly, ". . . What should I do?"

"Study your bloodline and learn," Kakashi advised. "It may still be possible for him to find out what will happen to you, whether or not he returns, and it would ease him to know you don't need the kyuubi to be strong."

Naruto rubbed his stomach where the seal had once been, the sting of which was finally beginning to fade as promised, and wondered if he really owed the once-Hokage—father or not—anything short of a beating for the hell his life had started as and then degenerated further into. Following a long consideration, he felt a satisfied smirk pull at the corner of his mouth.

No matter what it might or might not do for the Fourth's conscience, time manipulation _did_ sound like an interesting alternative to the kyuubi. If the Fourth was able to return, _then_ Naruto would decide on a reaction to his presence. For the time being there were far too many questions and not nearly enough answers; explanations would have to come from the Fourth himself rather than a half-informed third party. Also, Naruto decided that if he learned the abilities thoroughly enough—ones that, as a kekkei genkai, could not be copied even with hand seals to see—he could without a doubt kick Sasuke's pasty-pale ass straight back to Konoha. After all, the Sharingan could 'predict' the future, but could it reshape the past?

"Let's go home, Kakashi-sensei. I have sixteen years of work to catch up on."

* * *

_Timeserver_ has concluded.

_Timespan_ triad and _Timesaver_ quadrilogy to be continued . . .

* * *

**Answers To Questions You Didn't Even Know You Wanted To Ask:**

There are a lot of questions. Some of them are ones we should all know but that I've included in case someone who's new to things is reading. Others are ones I want to explain in future installments (more on that later), but that I can't fit into this work without rambling (or that you all will remember to look for by the time I can address them). Arguably, at least some of the technique names do not **exactly** apply as I describe them—'Seihen' from the next part is a good example—so be wary of repeating any of these words under the belief that my definition is the only one. It isn't.

—

**Is the title a reference to the Fourth?**

Yes. It's also obviously not a nice thing to call somebody. However, this is what Naruto undoubtedly considers the Fourth to be at this point.

—

**What is a 'kasa'?**

A bamboo hat, generally used to deflect sun and some rain. That's probably not the only word for it, but it's one.

—

**There's one member of Akatsuki missing?**

Technically, yes. Once upon a time, Orochimaru was with Akatsuki, bringing their numbers to ten. He eventually left to pursue his own ego, and has never been replaced.

—

**What is a 'bijuu'?**

A _bijuu_ is a 'tailed beast.' There are nine of them, each with a different number of tails.

—

**What is 'Hiraishin'?**

_Hiraishin_ is short for Hiraishin no Jutsu (Flying Thunder God Technique), which is the Yondaime's signature move and the one that earned him the nickname 'Yellow Flash.' Hiraishin no Jutsu is _**not**_—I repeat, _**is not**_—the Shunshin no Jutsu, the Body Flicker. Hiraishin and Shunshin are two totally different techniques, in ranking and execution. That said, I have heard the Hiraishin referred to as the Shunshin in the _Kakashi Gaiden_, but as that observation was made by a genin—Rin, to be specific—it could be argued to be a mistake of inexperience or ignorance (since it's highly unlikely ninja speak freely about their techniques).

—

**What is 'Kokontouzai'?**

_Kokontouzai_ means 'all times and places.' Basically, it's a technique allowing the user to alter the passage of time for an individual(s) so as to move to any location (or multiple locations) in a way that appears far faster than it actually is. Since it is the Hiraishin no Jutsu and I've simply twisted canon for my own devious purposes, it is a supplementary S-rank technique that covers all ranges.

—

**Why did the Fourth put pins in his nose?**

To keep the cartilage straight.

—

**Could a woman really fight an hour after giving birth?**

Probably not, unless the situation was horribly desperate, and even then it would hardly be much of a fight. I know **I** wouldn't want to (I'd turn over and ask them for more epidurals, please). I'm banking on sheer will and shinobi training that would deal with pain reduction/ignoring techniques, though. They must do training for that at least a little, and I think it could be applied to labor and delivery.

—

**What is 'Kokugen'?**

_Kokugen_ means 'appointed time.' It allows the user to see the various outcomes of an event in the past or present when the user suggests a person and a chosen possibility relating to that event. The technique is far from conclusive; it shows only the outcomes and not the mechanics that led to those outcomes. If the user is not specific enough in the event, person, and/or possibility, the potential outcomes are virtually limitless and nearly impossible to sort through. The outcomes also rely completely on the completeness of the user's knowledge of the person and event in question, so any error in either or both of those could result in a totally unexpected and unseen outcome in reality. This is a passive C-rank technique with no calculable range.

—

**How old is Naruto?**

Sixteen, as stated in the last sentence of the piece.

—

**Where is Sakura?**

Not with Kakashi and Naruto.

—

**Where is Sasuke?**

I, personally, hope he's dead.

—

**Why isn't anyone else with Naruto and Kakashi?**

I'm cheap and I didn't want to have to deal with trying to rationalize anybody who's not actually 'in the circle,' if you get me.

—

**Why pick Time as a kekkei genkai?**

Because I've heard of few—in canon or fandom—who made use of it, primarily, and I wanted to try it out. There are the time-space techniques like the Hiraishin and Kamui, but no bloodline devoted to it.

—

**Is there a sequel?**

Several. _Timeserver_ is part one of the _Timespan_ triad and the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy. The second part of the _Timespan_ triad and _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is _Timescale_. The final part of the _Timespan_ triad and third part of the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is _Timekeeper_. The fourth and final part of the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is the multi-chapter _Naruto_/_Okami_ crossover fic _Time Frame_.

—

**What's up with the triad/quadrilogy thing if they're all related?**

_Timeserver_, _Timescale_, and _Timekeeper_ are a triad rather than a trilogy because _Time Frame_ is part of the same universe and I figured it would be confusing to have a trilogy within a quadrilogy. That's the simple explanation, for anyone who's in a hurry.

_Timeserver_, _Timescale_, and _Timekeeper_ are linked to each other through one event: the Fourth Hokage correcting his mistake of sealing the kyuubi into Naruto. That fact has minimal bearing on the events of _Time Frame_, but to best understand _Time Frame_ a reader would ideally read _Timeserver_, _Timescale_, and _Timekeeper_ first. The _Timespan_ triad is actually a three-shot that I wanted to keep together, but I couldn't pick only one of the three titles to represent all three shots because each title is important. I decided instead to give them a cover title, but they're more removed from _Time Frame_ than they are from each other and the _Timesaver_ title applies to all four pieces equally. As a result, I couldn't restrict the _Timesaver_ title to the triad, so I isolated them further. Since the triad is indeed centered around one event, _Timespan_ is actually a more appropriate cover title anyway.

This is my logic. Don't try to stop me.

—

You know how good milk comes from happy cows, and happy cows come from California? Well, good stories come from happy authors, and happy authors come from reviews. So, please review.

~RN (LS)


	2. Timescale

**Author's Notes:** So I won't eat up space, please refer to the Author's Note in _Timeserver_ for information regarding _Timespan_'s age and intentions; remember that the triad is based on things that were in 2007 only rumors, not fact, so all the new info as of 2013 doesn't apply here. Enjoy!

**Title:** Timescale (part two of the _Timespan_ triad from the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy)

**Author:** Reaper Nanashi (Lady Shinigami)

**Pairing:** MinaKushi

**Word Count:** 3,446 (**Total:** 11,255)

**Type:** One-shot (Complete)

**Rating:** T (bad words, blood, violence)

**Date Submitted:** 7/27/07 (**Cleanup:** 1/6/13)

**Disclaimer:** I can dream, can't I?

**Claimer:** The Time-related stuff.

**Summary:** The Fourth Hokage is leading the village in a peaceful time, has a wife who loves him as much as he loves her, and can hardly wait for the birth of his son. His life could not be better . . . until he gets a visit from himself. Time is no longer on his side.

**The Reasoning Behind It:** This one was actually the third one I wrote. I started on _Timekeeper_ once I finished _Timeserver_, but it occurred to me that how things were able to change between the events of _Timeserver_ and _Timekeeper_ was important to cover, so I wrote this. It's the shortest of the triad as a result, but I feel it's no less necessary to understanding the triad itself.

* * *

Timescale – _noun_ –** period of time**: a period of time scheduled for something to be completed

* * *

He had not been aware that someone was in his office—he could not sense anything—but his guards and secretaries were confused. "What's wrong?"

They looked at one another, then at him. "Hokage-sama, you're already in your office."

He tilted his head. He doubted his guards thought he was an imposter—they had been with him almost since he had awakened that morning. They stopped outside the doors to the office. "Hm . . ." It would explain why he could not sense it, though, as he was used to ignoring his own chakra. He wondered if it was a shadow clone running loose, but did not feel the vague buzz in the back of his mind that signaled another mind working both in concert with as well as separately from his own. Besides that, he had not created one recently.

He tapped both guards and then pointed up at the ceiling. They attached themselves to it obediently while he retrieved lengths of wire—it was the last of the roll, so he would have to get more on the way home—and carefully wrapped it around the two door handles, crossing the wires beneath the short stem of each lever so as to get required downward force. He joined the guards on the ceiling and then pulled on the wires. The doors unlatched and the guards each nudged one open. They waited for the sound of triggered traps, but there was nothing. He lowered his head to peek into the room and look about, but not a single paper had been disturbed.

Not that such a thing meant a scrap to shinobi.

He decided it was safe enough to go in and quietly entered with his guards, ready to fight at a moment's notice. They had to show him where exactly the chakra was coming from; it was in the corner along the wall the doors were set in. There stood himself, dressed in a strange black coat printed with red clouds. The other had pins in his nose and he reached up to touch his own absently, aware that the location of the pins marked the strange little crook he had possessed since birth, though those close to him—a certain irreverent wife of his, specifically—liked to pretend that he had been dropped on his face as an infant and thus suffered irreversible brain damage from a severe head injury.

The guards armed themselves, but he put a hand on each one's nearer shoulder. "Wait." If the man was not an imposter, he would say so.

Sure enough, the man said, "_Yukusue_."

He tapped the guards again. "Leave."

They looked at him. ". . . Hokage-sama?"

"_Get out_!" he barked sharply, and they scurried from the office, drawing the doors shut behind them. He looked at the man in the corner and frowned at the stress lines that had started to crease the other's face. "How far?"

"Almost seventeen years."

He gaped slightly, but covered it up with, "This isn't allowed."

The response was very simple.

"It's for Naruto."

He closed his mouth instantly, his teeth coming together with a barely audible _clip_. Naruto had not been born yet—not to him, anyway—but he already knew he would do whatever was asked of him if it would ensure Naruto's happiness. He was just that type of parent, it seemed. That, and Naruto would need all the childhood happiness he could get to look back on if he ended up being a shinobi himself. "Let's go for a walk."

His future self nodded, but did not move for a long time. When the other tried to take a step forward, he started to fall. It was only quick action from both of them that spared the man's dignity the humiliation of hitting the floor face-first.

He took in the other's sweat-lined face anxiously. "I'm taking you home."

"Don't be stupid. We'd be punished. I've only just arrived—I'll be all right soon."

Together, they limped from the office. He looked at the nearest secretary, who was staring at both him and his future self in shock. "It's fine," he said firmly. "I'm going for a walk. Hold everything until I get back."

The secretary nodded blankly in answer and watched the pair make their slow way along the corridor.

By the time they got outside, his future self was looking and moving much better than just a few minutes earlier. He straightened himself and looked at the village with a sad smile. "I don't know whether to love or hate this place anymore." He sighed. "Let's go. I can keep up with you if you don't hurry too much."

Even though the park had people in it at any given point, it was that fact that made them less suspicious. People gave them odd looks for their similarity, but their casual behavior made it seem as though nothing was amiss. Technically, nothing was. He wanted desperately to know what was going on but knew better than to rush himself, so he kept entertained with nodding and smiling to people who greeted him.

"The kyuubi is going to come here."

He whirled to look at his future self, patience and self-control suddenly non-existent. "It's going _east_!"

His future self shook his head. "September twenty-ninth, he's going to turn around. He'll arrive on October tenth, and she will die."

He stopped and grabbed his future self, fearing the worst. "Naruto?!"

His future self gently pried loose. "He'll be fine." A wispy smile appeared—"Has some lungs on him, that one."—but it was gone in the next instant. "You can't kill the kyuubi, or even stop him—he's too strong. The only thing you can do is seal him."

"_Seal him_?! Come on, sealing isn't dumbshit stuff!"

"Shiki fuujin."

"Huh?"

"Ever heard of it?"

He considered that. He was working on developing a sealing technique, oddly enough, and it would be an appropriate name. He blinked. ". . . Is that what it's called?"

His future self shrugged. "Eventually."

"Great! Then all I have to do is—"

"_No_."

He tilted his head. "Why?"

"I told you—_she dies_. Who'll take care of Naruto?"

Good question. "Well . . ." Inspiration struck, though it was not what could necessarily be labeled as _good_ inspiration. "I could seal the kyuubi into him. It'll make him strong. Somebody will have to take care of him until he's old enough to protect himself, but . . ."

"And who would you assign that task to?"

"Er . . ."

His future self sighed wistfully. "To be so naïve again . . ."

While not untrue, comparing their ages and experiences, it was still quite annoying. "All right then, _you_ fix my life for me."

His future self nodded. "First of all, I realize this will be hard, but try to pretend that everything is normal. Act on whim, not knowledge, so that what I tell you will still be effective when the time arrives. Do you understand? That is paramount to everything else."

He did not like it, but it was indeed necessary. "I understand."

"Start researching labor and delivery—it should help things along f—"

"_Help things along_? What the hell could that possibly . . ." He stopped, horrified. "She would never . . ."

"She would and you know it."

"Tell me what she did! I'll make her stay home!"

His future self shook his head. "I've already tampered enough with Time. You foiling her once will cause her to be more reckless and she could still die. Do what I tell you and our clan will survive the kyuubi's attack."

". . . The clan too . . .?"

"Research labor and delivery. Read any books you find, talk to Rin. Even if you can't get a play-by-play, what little you may garner will help." His fear must have been obvious, because his future self added gently, "When she goes into labor, send her to the hospital and go to face the kyuubi. Wait twenty minutes, then check under the willow tree in the north park. She should be there. She'll have blood on her, but it won't be hers—she will have been assisting injured shinobi to where the iryounin are waiting, but the labor pains will have gotten the best of her. There will be no time to get her back to the hospital, so you will have to deliver Naruto yourself. It will be messy and a little bloody, but that's normal. It will be fine as long as you don't panic—you know it will frighten her if you're scared."

"But she dies!"

"She dies because she goes to fight the kyuubi. Even though she doesn't care about herself, she _will_ leave the battlefield for Naruto's sake. She'll _want_ to leave the battlefield at that point, so _let her take him to the hospital_. She'll be weak, but considering how long she held out against the kyuubi, she should be strong enough to make it there alone. Once she's gone, seal the kyuubi away with this."

He accepted the folded paper that his future self held out to him. It was encoded, but he deciphered it easily enough. "I've never heard of this."

"You haven't developed it yet."

He looked at his future self. "This must have taken a long time to come up with."

"Twelve years."

He nodded and began to memorize the seals written on the paper, wondering if he would be able to master something so complicated in just four weeks.

"Whatever you do," his future self concluded, "even if you end up using the shiki fuujin, do _not_ include Naruto. If you take him away from her, she'll try to fight the kyuubi and die, and the clan will die trying to protect her. If you seal the kyuubi into him, the village will detest him no matter what you might want for him. I'm well aware that several of the other villages have already sealed bijuu into children, but I don't foresee battles involving them—the villages have no interest in those children even as weapons. They're pariahs, viewed as nothing but loose cannons, and that is the life that Naruto will endure if you seal the kyuubi within him."

He felt a swell of sadness at that. "But he'll be okay if I do this?"

"As long as you don't ever seal the kyuubi into him, all but ten percent of the futures I've seen promise a normal life."

He gave a relieved sigh. "Good."

"When you get back to the office, check the secret compartment under the seat. I left my journal there; you can read it to help remind you of what you need to do. So help me, my mind's like a sieve even twenty years later."

He chuckled, then frowned as his future self headed into the trees. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?"

"To get Obito."

". . . _Obito_?"

His future self turned. "Kakashi needs him badly, as I'm sure you've noticed. And I have reason to believe his presence will save Rin's life. It's only a sixty-forty chance, though, so be very careful. In fact, it might simply be best to name her your successor, since she's such a superb healer. It would be a good excuse."

"But . . . But the Seihen twice . . ."

"I'm aware of that. I never expected to be able to go home—I intended this from the start. Even if I fail to save Obito and Rin still dies, Kakashi will survive the pain. I'd just like to give him a happier life. Poor brat deserves it after everything he's done for me since the whole horror story started. Either way, make sure that Naruto is content and place him on a team under Kakashi's tutelage. They'll both be fine then."

He had everything planned out, it seemed. "Okay . . ."

His future self slipped his strange coat off, revealing a typical Konoha jounin uniform, and tossed it at him. "You shouldn't have to worry about it, but if you ever see or hear of a group that wears these coats or ones like this, look into them and find out what they're doing. If there's any hint that they're after the bijuu, kill all of them. They may be composed of S-class oinin and may call themselves 'Akatsuki.' Whatever they are, they aren't going to want to be friends."

Definitely sounded dangerous. "Did you infiltrate them?"

"I created them."

With that, his future self was gone, leaving him with an oddly ominous coat and far more information than he wanted but knew he desperately needed.

"Hey, you!"

He turned around, automatically plastering a smile on his face. As his wife touched down with surprising lightness in front of him—he wished she would not play in the trees when she was nearly ten months along, but since she moved fine he did not complain too much—he bent down and wrapped his arms around her burgeoning stomach as he greeted, "Hello!"

"_Excuse me_, sir. I think you should talk to the captain before visiting the passenger."

"Ah, but I've already had lots of time to talk to the captain before this! I have to even that quota with the passenger now!"

She laughed, and Naruto responded by kicking out. Fortunately, his head was resting on top of her stomach, so he only got jabbed in the chest a few times and once in the throat—kid had good aim for fighting blind. For a moment he thought of the possibilities his future self had outlined for Naruto and felt a burst of anger at the village for not trusting his strength, at the very least. It was gone just as quickly, though, because he had no intention of letting any of that happen. He would use the Kokugen, read the journal, and do as his future self had advised.

At least he knew Naruto, apparently a truly impatient child, would be a week and a half premature. That would help keep him from panicking.

"Are you okay?"

He straightened up and looked at her. He had been quiet too long. "Just thinking." She opened her mouth and he quickly added, "Please don't—it's of the clan."

She hated hearing that excuse from him and he hated to use it against her, but it was the only explanation he could offer in public. She closed her mouth and frowned, then sighed. "Fine." She then noticed the coat his future self had left behind. "Where did you get that?"

"It was given to me."

She recoiled slightly and he, just to be playful, waved it at her. She drew away even more and commanded, "_Don't_!" He stopped immediately, confused, and let his arm drop by his side. She eased closer and peered at it with significant distrust.

"What is it?" he asked, curious. She came from a family in which virtually every member had been a priest or priestess and for many generations they had all cared for one of the largest shrines in some faraway land he had never visited. Unfortunately, in a surge of fury upon hearing that one of the other shrines had been badly corrupt, the people burned it and every other shrine in the country to the ground and killed anyone of religious blood they found. Her family had fled for their lives and many eventually settled in Fire Country. Out of fear for their safety they had never built another shrine, but the powers granted them had not faded all that much over the centuries. She herself was strong enough to banish demons of moderate strength and ferocity, though she had only done it a few times.

As with his own clan, though for slightly different reasons, hers did not discuss their abilities with outsiders. In fact, he had never learned about her exact heritage until after they were married and her fitful dreams woke him three or four nights a week. They had finally dwindled to once or twice a month, but only—he made sure to remind her whenever the issue arose—_after_ she had told him the truth. Out of respect for her and her respect of his silence in regards to his own clan's history, he had never asked her what those dreams—or perhaps visions—had entailed even though curiosity gnawed at him, but he suspected by her behavior, in waking and sleeping, that they had involved a lot of pain or loss or possibly even both at once.

It often made him wonder if Naruto would inherit any such abilities.

That was still in the future, though, and she was definitely showing signs that her 'miko powers'—he had gotten a rather good wallop for that—had been triggered. She leaned in toward the coat, then leaned away, then leaned in and back again. After a very long hesitation, she held out her hands and took hold of the coat. Uncertain, he let her have it, alarmed when she began to sob over it almost immediately. An attempt to snatch it away was answered with an equal snatch in the opposite direction, topped by a glassy-eyed glare.

"Stop crying," he told her, trying to stabilize the situation. "It's just a coat."

"Why is it so sad?!" she demanded.

"_What_?"

She shook the coat at him. "It _reeks_ of awful, awful sadness! Where did you get this?!"

He pressed his lips together rebelliously. There was no way he was going to tell her, even the tiniest and most insignificant bit, what had happened. Not only would it ruin the tentative progression of Time, but it would also undoubtedly put her into hysterics. She was at last on maternity leave—completely forced, naturally—so neither of them had the benefit of her uniform controlling her behavior.

"_You_!" she suddenly howled. "It's _you_! Why?! _Why_?!"

He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a sharp shake. She had gotten hysterical anyway, so he would have to tell her at least part of the truth. "Listen. _Listen_!" She blinked at him tearfully and he sighed. "The future found me. It's not all candy and roses on that road, but I know how to fix it, okay? I promise."

"But what _happened_?"

"It doesn't matter because I'm _not_ going to let it happen. Everything will be different this time, I promise."

"But—"

"Please trust me," he begged. "Please?"

She looked at him, the coat held tightly to her chest. "You know you don't have to do everything alone . . ."

"I know," he promised, "and I won't be. When the time comes, you'll be helping me. All you need to do until then is whatever suits your fancy, okay? Things _must_ progress normally until that time."

She nodded, but still looked a little uncertain.

"Hey . . ." He tilted her head up with a gentle finger. "That was the whole reason I was alerted to this, all right? So that it won't happen again. It is sad—it's very sad—but it's not irreparable. Not yet. There's still time to make it all right."

"You said it's not allowed, though. To do that."

"It's not. But it was more important that I know."

She nodded. "What was it about?"

"The village."

It was not a complete lie—the village _was_ heavily involved.

". . . _Can_ you make it better?"

He frowned. He really did not know. He could but try. "I'm the Yondaime Hokage," he reminded her quickly, tickling her ribs and very slyly reclaiming the coat as he retreated, "I can make _anything_ better."

She giggled and tried to get away from him. "I'd agree with you, except I know that the Sandaime only had pity on you when you went into his office _weeping_ about how your teacher was picked to be Yondaime over you. Things have been terrible ever since."

He stopped and imagined his pervert of a teacher wearing the Hokage's robes, then tilted his head at the oddness of the concept. It really would not have worked—too much white. "Them's fightin' words, woman."

She stuck her tongue out at him and leaped into a nearby tree, much to his consternation. "What're you gonna do?" she taunted. "Cry?"

He responded with something quite typical and followed her, simply glad—over most everything else—that she had not thought to ask precisely _when_ he would need her help. As he chased her through trees that would more than likely be gone in a month, he steeled himself for the coming ordeal.

October tenth. The day heaven and hell would collide in front of his eyes, leaving him to restore the shattered pieces with only the ingredients for a glue.

* * *

_Timescale_ has concluded.

_Timespan_ triad and _Timesaver_ quadrilogy to be continued . . .

* * *

**Answers To Questions You Didn't Even Know You Wanted To Ask:**

**The Fourth can ignore his own chakra?**

He can now.

—

**What is 'Yukusue'?**

_Yukusue_ is 'one's future' (it may or may not have been used in the proper context—if not, I apologize and appreciate a correction) and is something of a code word. As stated by past!Fourth, meeting with oneself this way isn't condoned by the clan. However, in the event of a dire emergency it's a way for a future self to assure his or her past self that the future self is real and not a clone or imposter without completely giving away the fact that he or she really _is_ from the future, in case unwanted ears are listening. Why this isn't the total giveaway it appears to be will be covered in _Timekeeper_.

—

**What is 'Seihen'?**

_Seihen_ is 'change of times.' As further explained in _Timekeeper_, this is a technique that allows the user to travel into the past and so influence the future. It only controls Time, however, and not the free will of people. As a result, there is no guarantee that using this technique will change the future in the way the user desires. Though actually a passive C-rank technique on its own, skill with chakra manipulation is heavily required for the user to achieve the specific date s/he wishes to arrive at. That requirement elevates Seihen to a passive A-rank technique with a range that cannot be physically measured but is proportionate to chakra expenditure.

—

**What's 'Kokugen' again?**

_Kokugen_ means 'appointed time.' It allows the user to see the various outcomes of an event in the past or present when the user suggests a person and a chosen possibility relating to that event. The technique is far from conclusive; it shows only the outcome and not the mechanics that led to that outcome. If the user is not specific enough in the event, person, and/or possibility, the potential outcomes are virtually limitless and nearly impossible to sort through. The outcomes also rely completely on the completeness of the user's knowledge of the person and event in question, so any error in either or both of those could result in a totally unexpected and unseen outcome in reality. This is a passive C-rank technique with no calculable range.

—

**What's a 'miko'?**

A _miko_ is a priestess.

—

**Is there a sequel?**

Several. _Timeserver_ is part one of the _Timespan_ triad and the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy. The second part of the _Timespan_ triad and _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is _Timescale_. The final part of the _Timespan_ triad and third part of the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is _Timekeeper_. The fourth and final part of the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is the multi-chapter _Naruto_/_Okami_ crossover fic _Time Frame_.

—

You know how good milk comes from happy cows, and happy cows come from California? Well, good stories come from happy authors, and happy authors come from reviews. So, please review.

~RN (LS)


	3. Timekeeper

**Author's Notes:** So I won't eat up space, please refer to the Author's Note in _Timeserver_ for information regarding _Timespan_'s age and intentions; remember that the triad is based on things that were in 2007 only rumors, not fact, so all the new info as of 2013 doesn't apply here. Enjoy!

**Title:** Timekeeper (part three of the _Timespan_ triad from the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy)

**Author:** Reaper Nanashi (Lady Shinigami)

**Pairing:** MinaKushi (in passing)

**Word Count:** 9,760 (**Total:** 21,015)

**Type:** One-shot (Complete)

**Rating:** T (bad words, blood, violence)

**Date Submitted:** 8/4/07 (**Cleanup:** 1/14/13)

**Disclaimer:** I can dream, can't I?

**Claimer:** The Time-related stuff.

**Summary:** Kakashi wakes up to a normal day in his life and at first it all seems to be the same old thing. Naruto, as he soon discovers, is not acting normally, and he has every intention of finding out why. He's about to be very surprised. Time chooses no one's side.

**The Reasoning Behind It:** This was actually the second one I wrote, under the assumption that people might want to know if the Fourth's trip to the past did any good for Naruto and Kakashi, and if so, what. It's the longest of the triad by far, and would have been longer had I not clipped some stuff for _Time Frame_ later.

* * *

Timekeeper – _noun_ – **someone recording time elapsed**: a recorder of the time elapsed during an event

* * *

Kakashi stretched as he slid out of his bed. He glanced at his clock and groaned. It was still far better than _waking up_ to such an awful row, at the very least, which was enough to give him congestive heart failure even at his age. He was actually starting to wake a few minutes _earlier_ for that reason exactly—to avoid the pain. "Three . . . two . . . one . . ."

At exactly six forty-five a.m., as it had every morning for years, did the most horrific noise Kakashi had ever been unfortunate enough to be a victim to begin: the ungodly tumult of a steel spatula banging on a steel skillet. Exactly fifteen seconds later, also as it had occurred every morning for many _so_ happy years, the usually pleasant kunoichi who lived next door could be heard shouting over the din, "Oh my _god_, will somebody _please_ kill that asshole?" It was a wonder she had never moved away.

Kakashi did not dare remind her—at least not so early in the morning—that it had been her idea in the first place. It was his cue, though, to stop the racket. He opened his bedroom door, a regrettable necessity, and recoiled sleepily as the sound only increased in volume. "Okay, okay, you insensitive jerk! I'm awake!"

"_Good morning_!" his roommate chirped, and obediently silenced his affectionately-titled 'Daybreak Ditty.' "I have scrambled eggs and these cool little sugar-coated wheat squares you can have for breakfast!"

Kakashi scratched his head. "Sounds great. I think. I'll be out in a minute." Despite the fact that they were co-leasees of a typical bachelor pad, the one thing they always made sure they had was food. Even so, his roommate was constantly experimenting with unusual food pairings, so eggs and cold wheat cereal was actually a very tame combination. More so than the gummi bears and barbecued steak they had eaten last night for supper, at any rate.

Kakashi pulled on a uniform, but he had to sniff it cautiously to make sure it was clean and not a dirty one he had originally put in the laundry, or a clean one that had been rubbed in horse urine—it was the other's turn to prank him, so he had to be super careful—and meandered down the hall to the kitchen. He pulled out his chair and flopped into it sleepily, only to feel something very soft give easily beneath his weight. ". . . Damn."

His roommate giggled like a hyena and turned from his place at the sink. "_Owned_!" He then followed the proud declaration with his favored 'victory dance,' which Kakashi had always thought looked more like death throes than anything else. Maybe it was just wishful thinking.

He did not bother to get up and change his clothes—it was too late to save either them or his dignity—and only looked to make sure it was something that would wash out. Fortunately, it was merely a pie tin loaded with whipped cream. He could deal with that. "You dance like a cat having a seizure," he noted as he resettled and tried to ignore the squelch of whipped cream as it squirted out onto his chair.

His roommate poked out his tongue and wiggled it at Kakashi pointedly. "You sleep like a dead man." He slid a plate in front of Kakashi, who saw that mercifully, the main components of breakfast were kept separated and the wheat squares had not been added into the eggs before they had finished cooking, which was something that had happened before. His roommate flopped into his own chair cheerfully. "Let's have our teams fight!"

"Yeah right," Kakashi replied, immediately falling into the almost daily argument about whose team was the better. It was an old, _old_ disagreement. "You know how well Sasuke and Naruto work together, and with Sakura's tactical skills your brats won't be able to lay a finger on _any_ of my kids."

"Sasuke's a pussy," his roommate gloated. "My kids can wipe him off the map easy. And Naruto is _way_ in need of an education in mêlée strategy."

Kakashi shot his roommate a look. "You sure you want to say that?"

"Oh yeah."

Kakashi smirked. He loved not blithering about how his team had improved, because it made for such an egotistically satisfying response from the other when his team crushed his roommate's. "Then you're on. I'll let you pick where and when."

Two hours later came the traditional team greeting.

"Yo."

"_Why_ are you late?" Sakura demanded.

"Because you can't stand it," Kakashi replied, knowing it would throw her off, "and I love annoying you."

"_LI_— Oh, wait, you were telling the truth. Is there a term for that kind of person?"

"'Honest.'"

Sasuke snorted. "Too strong a word to apply to just one instance."

Kakashi grimaced mentally. Teaching young shinobi to survive for longer than ten months after graduation required teaching them to think quickly and, depending on the circumstances, act on their own meager experiences and judgments. This led straight, unfortunately, to considerable backtalking, but he would much rather have them talk back to him than die, so he accepted it—was even relieved by it. Not that he would ever tell _them_ that.

With that in mind, he decided to ignore the jab and looked about. "Where's Naruto?"

Sasuke shifted, his amusement fading. "He told me last night that he was going to visit the upper cemetery this morning."

Kakashi frowned faintly behind his mask and gazed at the sky without actually seeing any of it. Naruto really had only one reason to go to _any_ cemetery. ". . . Is it that time already . . .?"

"_Ahoy_!" his roommate called out cheerfully, three kids trailing behind. They were a bit younger than Kakashi's 'brood,' but that was mostly because Kakashi was a ruthless instructor. He did not waste time playing the getting-to-know-each-other games that his roommate enjoyed so, and that intimidated the new batches of academy graduates from the outset. They all thought he was a slave driver. Which he was, but he thought it said something that his fresh-faced Team Six had been one of the undisputed top three genin teams their rookie year.

He had also gotten rather embarrassingly attached to 'his' kids—quite fortunately, it was not something that his roommate could make fun of him for without being a hypocrite—because they were the first to stand up to his hard-nosed introductory image, which earned big points, and so he was happy to keep them under his wings in any capacity they allowed him. That was an unusually big capacity, upon reflection, but their affection for him was not half the secret that his affection for them was. It was really a little sad, he thought, that Team Six technically no longer existed because one of his students had recently . . . 'aced' was too strong a word, but . . . passed the chuunin exam with considerably less effort than he probably should have. The usefulness of a kekkei genkai, he supposed.

"Your last brat run in fear?" his roommate teased.

Kakashi gave him a sharp look to silence the big-mouthed fool, but reined in the worst of his anger. One of the things about the other that he both loved and hated passionately was the tendency to forget depressing things. "It's the anniversary of Sensei's death."

His roommate looked stricken, then wilted slightly. ". . . Oh, yeah, er . . . Do you think he'll be up for this?"

"He'll be fine once he remembers we're waiting for him," Sakura promised. "He doesn't let private stuff irreconcilably affect his professional behavior."

As if cued, Naruto exited the trees surrounding the training field and moved toward them. Kakashi noted immediately that he held a folded piece of paper in his hand and had an odd look on his face—confused rather than saddened. Sakura waited until he had reached them before hugging his shoulders and kissing his cheek. It was something she did with both her teammates for birthdays and anniversaries, and Kakashi got more entertainment than he likely should have out of teasing her for trying to either start a threesome or dismantle the team's important core structure by inspiring jealousy between her teammates.

"Good morning, Mister Chuunin," Sakura greeted with a smile.

Naruto's face changed swiftly from 'confused' to 'floored' and his blue eyes glazed over slightly, though whether it was over the little kiss or the reminder of his new rank was unclear. He looked at himself and examined his uniform closely, as if to make sure it was real, then responded vaguely, ". . . Um . . . Morning . . .?"

Sasuke was next. He grabbed Naruto, who was slightly taller than him, in a headlock and ground his knuckles into blond hair. "It's time to train, Hokage-to-be."

Naruto yanked away from his best friend, face twisted with fury, and opened his mouth to let out what was clearly going to be an incredibly scathing lexicon of curses from various cultures and languages—one of the perks, if it could be called that, of being the previous Hokage's only child—only to stop and stare blankly over at his male teammate. ". . . Sasuke . . .?"

"What?"

"Why . . .?" Naruto paused, blinked in shock, and then his whole expression darkened. His hand tightened around the paper he held. "Never mind." He looked up at Kakashi. "Shouldn't you not be doing that?"

"Doing what?"

Naruto tapped just behind his own left eye. "Don't you usually keep it covered?"

Thanks to his roommate's helpful and involved lessons on how to deal with the chakra-consumption of the Sharingan, which Kakashi knew he never would have gotten from any other Uchiha—including Sasuke, the little tight-lip—he only had to cover it after using it for an extended period of time. Average non-combat use barely caused him any trouble unless there was a lot of activity going on all at once. Even so, he had a sudden image in his mind of himself having to compensate for skewed depth perception because he had just one eye that he used at any given moment. He wondered where the idea had come from, because he had never thought of it before when someone suggested covering either of his eyes. ". . . I don't usually have to."

"Oh," Naruto said, and nodded vaguely in response, though his tone indicated he was thinking something vastly different. He looked over at the Roommate From Hell, narrowed his eyes as if he did not recognize him, then shifted his gaze to Kakashi. "Oh," he said again, and Kakashi had a burning urge to find out what the blond was thinking, knowing that the little idiot on the surface was concealing the sharp mind inside. He was not a genius like Itachi or the Nara boy—not that Kakashi could tell, anyway—but not much got past him, particularly when it might work to his advantage to know more about something than those around him.

As a cadet, Naruto had been the very last student in his class. He had failed every test that had not involved a 'hands-on' lesson and was terrible at Kawarimi no Jutsu—Kakashi suspected that was because his kekkei genkai meant he did not really need that particular technique rather than not learning it out of laziness—which was what the ninjutsu portion of the final exam had been on that year. Kakashi had been properly flabbergasted at his teacher's composure about the whole thing.

"You're not _worried_?"

The Fourth Hokage had merely smiled serenely in answer and said, "He's the same type of learner his mother is, that's all. I'm going to assign his team to you."

"Sensei, that's just it! He's not _going_ to graduate this year with his grades, whether or not he's your son!"

The simple response had been: "Watch."

Naruto _had_ passed the exam, including the ninjutsu portion. Kakashi, bewildered that he had really ended up with the team with the year's absolute dead last student, had been unable to contain himself and asked how the blond had accomplished it. Naruto had admitted that he had increased his own time by two, slowed the time in the exam room, subtly marked his place on the floor, jumped out the window, cut off part of a tree from the surrounding forest, rushed it back to the classroom, used a henge on it, and then gone back out the window before letting time resume normally. The chuunin instructors claimed even so many years later that at the very last instant the Naruto the shuriken _hit_ had not been the Naruto the shuriken had been _thrown_ at, but there were no cameras to back them up while a log on the exam room floor had silently held up Naruto's end of the argument.

"_That's cheating,"_ Sakura had pointed out sometime afterward.

"_Except that you __**can't**__ cheat with a kekkei genkai,"_ Sasuke had countered, in defense of his best friend. _"That's the whole point of them. There's no rule that says a kekkei genkai can't be used to assist in a jutsu."_

"_That wasn't an __**assist**__—it was a __**replacement**__."_

"_**Exactly**__,"_ Sasuke had said pointedly. _"Hence, it was still a kawarimi."_

Sakura had messed up her hair in frustration. _"__**Boys**__ . . ."_

His teacher's explanation for Naruto's effort? _"Failure breeds ingenuity. I'd discipline him for cheating and then lying—and I still will if someone can __**prove**__ he did either—but that's the kind of thing he'll have to be able to do as a field agent. I already told him that ages ago."_ He had shrugged and sighed as he shuffled through his papers. _"I'd rather have him lie and survive than bury him because he told the truth. Might as well get him started before he needs to be truly convincing about it."_

Naruto's mother's thoughts had been even less concerned. _"Since when were shinobi ever __**that**__ honorable? It's our __**job**__ to deceive those around us—civilians and ninja alike. Isn't that the whole concept behind ninjutsu and especially genjutsu?"_

They were both right, but it had still been strange. It had not been so for Sasuke, though, who—rather than being jealous and annoyed—had appeared to think it was all a matter of course and defended Naruto staunchly whenever Sakura brought it up. That reminded him . . .

"Naruto, how's your mother today?"

Naruto frowned. "I don't _h_—" He caught himself, was quiet a moment, and then his hand crushed the folded paper he held even more violently. "How the hell should I know? She's out on an assignment."

Kakashi tilted his head. It sounded like he had been about to claim that he did not have a mother—which was ridiculous, as everyone knew. Naruto's mother was a top jounin and in the eyes of many shinobi had apparently been selected to be the Fourth's spouse specifically for her shocking ability to be irreverent and both verbally and physically abusive to the man himself, who had happily promised that it was merely because she was hot-blooded and that she really was very docile out of her uniform. It seemed to be true—or at least only ever aimed at him—because she was extremely sweet and patient with Naruto unless he had done something _very_ wrong. If she had not wept so piteously both when she heard about the Hokage's mutual death at the hands of Orochimaru and then again at the funeral four days later, Kakashi would have been totally convinced the relationship had simply been one of selective breeding rather than love.

Which was not all that uncommon a thing among shinobi, to be sure, but Kakashi was a closet romantic and liked to see people in happy, sappy relationships.

"Are you feeling okay?" the Roommate From Hell asked.

Naruto threw a half-glare at the speaker. "Spectacular, Uncle Obito."

Obito scowled. "Do _not_ call me 'uncle'!"

"Why?" Sasuke prompted. "You tell my sister to."

Naruto's head whipped around to look, wide-eyed, at his best friend, but then he nodded in agreement.

"That's different."

"How?" Sasuke challenged. "Same generation."

"Your sister is a hell of a lot cuter than you."

"Why? Because she kisses up to you?"

"Because being a clan reject means I need love, not mockery."

"Then what the hell am _I_ supposed to call you?"

"I'm your cousin once removed—_figure it out_."

Sasuke started to respond, but Naruto grabbed his sleeve and said quickly, "Fine." For a moment Sasuke resisted Naruto's insistent behavior as the blond whispered to him, but then he barked out a laugh and smiled far too benignly over his shoulder at Obito for the behavior to mean anything good.

Obito cringed when they rejoined Sakura and could not see his display of fear. "Now what have I done?"

"Something I know that you deserve with every cell of your being," Kakashi replied. "Doesn't Rin put you down enough that you know that now?"

"How come _she_ got to be Hokage?" Obito complained. "She's the weakest of us!"

Kakashi flicked his roommate's nose. "Because you're too dumb and I'm too lazy."

Obito rubbed his 'wound' and started to protest, paused, and shrugged. "I guess so."

"Besides," Kakashi added, only vaguely interested in the discussion as it was easily as old as the one about whose team was better, "it's probably not her weakness in battle he was thinking of. As an iryounin, she can save thousands of lives and cause a hell of a lot of injury to an enemy because she knows where she can do the most good or the most damage."

"Are you talking about Godaime-sama?" Sakura asked. When Kakashi nodded, her eyes became starry with admiration. "She's the whole reason I decided to become a shinobi! She's so beautiful and I wanted to help people just like she does!"

Kakashi, having originally believed Sakura's reasons for being a shinobi had been, as for many other silly girls her age, to get her closer to Konoha's 'twin' heartthrobs—who both just so happened to be legitimate heirs to two rather prominent and influential village clans as well—was impressed to hear it. "I thought you did it out of admiration for Tsunade-sama."

"Oh, well, learning about Tsunade-sama's skill did introduce me to the idea of being an iryounin," Sakura acknowledged, "but since there aren't that many book on being an iryounin and Tsunade-sama gave her life to save those of others out on the battlefield, I didn't have a living example to _show_ me how wonderful it is to help others in that way. But then Rin-sama—before she became Hokage—did a demonstration on first-aid for my primary school class, and that was when I knew that I wanted to be a ninja!"

Kakashi was touched by her passionate feelings on the matter—it tended to make good shinobi—until Obito started laughing. Annoyed, Kakashi snapped, "What are _you_ so tickled about, moron?"

"Ahahahaha! Rin, _beautiful_?! _Ahahahaha_!"

Sakura scowled at him, also annoyed, and Kakashi said, "You shouldn't say that about your own girlfriend, dumbass. She's going to hear about it."

"Hey, I don't love her because of her face, okay?" Obito blinked, then said, "All right, well, her face would have to be pretty enough that I noticed her, right? So maybe that accounts for twenty percent of my feelings for her. But anyway, I didn't say that she's _ugly_, just that she isn't _beautiful_."

"Oh yeah?" Sakura demanded. "Then what _is_ beautiful?"

A true charmer, Obito smiled and answered, "You."

Sakura drew her arms up to her chest, startled, and her scowl faded. ". . . Oh . . . Er . . . Excuse me . . .!"

Obito was supremely pleased with himself as he watched her scurry away, until Kakashi said mildly, "If you're not careful and hit on any of my students—especially Sakura—ever again, I will tell Rin and then help her hide what's left of your body. I can assure you that no one will miss you."

Unfortunately, Obito's fear was momentary. "Aw, is Mama-kashi still not letting her fledglings grow up?"

_Very_ unfortunately.

"If you're not _more_ careful," Kakashi advised, "Rin will only hear about your behavior after your body washes up on the shore of Waves Country."

Obito blew a brief, rebellious raspberry at him before turning to his team, who had been given enough time to get over the fear brought on by the realization that their opponents would be two older genin and a chuunin, each with considerably more experience than what they had collectively. It was good training for reality, Kakashi had to admit, to face off with a group whose skill level was unequal to one's own. He suspected that was why Obito constantly suggested that their teams do battle every other month.

He waited until Obito finished giving his team an inspiring pep talk, and then promptly crushed their renewed spirit by casually lifting his hand and flicking his first two fingers out. The motion had been silent and even Sasuke, who had been standing with his back to Kakashi, did not hesitate to leap away immediately. Usually, Kakashi would gloat at the fresh fear on his roommate's students' faces, but he instead watched Naruto, who was heading toward the creek and the village rather than the trees. The blond jumped the brook and disappeared into the brush on the other side, clearly on a roundabout path to his teammates, but Kakashi's attention had refocused on the piece of paper that was fluttering into the water. Nosy as always, he quickly sent a shadow clone to retrieve it.

"_Okay_!" Obito cheered. "You can do this! Remember what we've been practicing and stick to it! I'll be guiding you from here! Go!"

The kids hurried into the trees, looking far less enthused than they had been originally.

Safe in a tree, pleased to laze about while Obito shouted unnecessarily at all six students, Kakashi unfolded the paper his shadow clone had recovered. The words had faded badly and bled in the water, but they were just barely decipherable. In his teacher's looping script were the simple words, _Time alters all wounds._ There was no further explanation for the odd concept and no indication that such a thing had washed away. Curious—for it was strange that Naruto would not only carry a note like that years after his father's death, but then apparently care so little for it that he would throw it away—Kakashi tucked the note into his pocket for later.

'Later' was fewer than six hours ahead, as it turned out.

"Naruto."

The blond paused as his peers wandered away in varying stages of fatigue. "Huh?"

Kakashi waited until they were out of earshot before holding up the piece of paper. He did not miss how Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Care to explain?"

"Hardly."

"I could find out from your mother."

"I seriously doubt that."

Kakashi quirked his mouth to the side beneath his mask, slightly stumped by the hard response. Naruto had become something of a momma's boy after his father's death, most likely out of fear that his mother would go next, so it was strange that threatening to seek answers from his mother had not urged him to tell the truth.

Obito, who had admittedly always been a better negotiator than Kakashi was, leaned his scarred and pocked face—the empty socket of his missing left eye concealed under a cock-eyed headband—nearer and made an absurdly simple counter-protest. "Please?"

Naruto looked over at him, then at Kakashi, then repeated the motion. After what had clearly been a long and intense internal debate—which was actually quite normal for a Namikaze who was deciding whether or not to discuss the clan's bloodline—he spoke to both even though his eyes were staring unflinchingly at his teacher. "Time is hot steel." He stopped there, and Kakashi successfully avoided muttering aloud about the vagueness of the statement while Obito was equally successful in not objecting to the not-explanation with something stupid.

The Uzumaki clan was known for spawning large mouths—mouths that, both purposefully and accidentally, revealed their hiding places in battle situations—but the Namikaze influence meant Naruto would almost instinctively clam up when it came to discussing his family's bloodline. It was no doubt something they were warned against while still in utero, and understandably so; being the guardians of Time, the only things standing between a normal life and chaos, the last thing they wanted to do was spill its secrets.

They would have to talk about it eventually, though, and they did so only with the trusted few who passed some kind of screening. It was one the Fourth had simply called 'rigorous,' even though Kakashi, Obito, and Rin could not recall ever going through any such test despite that they were apparently indeed trustworthy. Kakashi would have believed his teacher had been joking except he had witnessed his teacher, when speaking with strangers, routinely divert a conversation about controlling time away to something totally unrelated, in a manner so subtle as to make a performing geisha jealous. Thus Kakashi knew he was privileged, but since he was still not part of the clan in blood he had to figure out ways to swiftly translate all the metaphors and riddles Namikaze used to convey ideas regarding Time. If he took too long, as he had discovered from several instances while in a conversation with his teacher, the window of discussion closed and was virtually impossible to reopen, though not really through any deliberate effort.

Worse, on top of the Namikaze preference to simply not talk about Time at all, Uzumaki had brutally short attention spans—subjects including shinobi or jutsu notwithstanding—and somewhat abhorred long periods of quiet. So if Kakashi wanted an explanation, he had to figure out the opening riddle right away.

"Time is . . ." he murmured to himself. "Hot steel . . . can be folded . . . malleable . . ."

". . . Uh-oh," Obito mused.

"Someone from the clan has done something," Kakashi agreed.

"It's the First Law," Naruto confirmed.

Suddenly, Naruto's odd behavior began to make sense. As a Namikaze, he was naturally resistant to the changes that had taken place even though no one else had the slightest clue. He had doubtless been confused at first, but then slowly put the pieces together as new memories had started to take shape. Distantly, Kakashi wondered what that was like—to be the only person who knew the truth.

"The First Law?" Obito echoed.

"I believe the First Law says that none of the clan may ever alter past events for personal gain," Kakashi explained, and Naruto nodded.

"But somebody did it anyway," Obito concluded. "Is this bad?"

Kakashi, who did not know, looked at Naruto, who said, "Time happens for a reason."

There was quiet while the two jounin tried to decipher that. Kakashi watched Naruto, who he thought was being unusually patient and focused, watch them in turn as if he expected to wait them out.

"Of _course_ time happens for a reason," Obito decided, "or else we wouldn't _exist_." He blinked at his own words. ". . . _Oh_."

"If somebody is supposed to die but doesn't, it could cause someone who's not supposed to die _to_ die," Kakashi clarified. "Someone who's supposed to be born might not be born. Wars could be averted . . . or started. All because of a single, tiny change."

"Or more," Naruto offered.

"_More_?" Kakashi and Obito chorused.

Naruto started to answer, but all three picked up an approaching chakra signature. It was completely untamed so it was either an animal, a child, or an adult civilian who had no idea they were there yet. Even so, Naruto closed his mouth and started to walk away. Undeterred, Kakashi followed, and Obito hurried after them. Nothing was said on the way to the Namikaze compound, which was where they were all going even if Naruto did not want them to follow him. Though it would be easy for him to use his bloodline to get away from them, they also knew exactly where he was going, so he did not bother to try.

"Don't talk to anybody," Naruto advised as they stepped through the main gateway and into the compound proper. "They're all going to be kind of irritable about this."

In various portions of the yard, Namikaze not on assignment were practicing alone or with each other. There were virtually no servants to be seen running about, which was a slightly more common sight in the Hyuuga and Uchiha compounds for different reasons, both because the clan as a whole did not like any form of slavery—though they enjoyed spinning great yarns of having the entire world at their feet—and because they were leery of bringing non-family into their confidence.

They crossed the grounds to the main house and stepped inside. In the vestibule, so as to not keep Kakashi and Obito waiting, Naruto briefly exerted his bloodline to change from his chuunin uniform and into the traditional attire that made all Namikaze, as a still-unnamed Uchiha had once said, look smarter than they were. Which was the other big secret the Namikaze clan's affected disorderliness covered up, Kakashi knew—the naturally sharp mind that lurked just beneath the surface, more obvious in the always-serious Hyuuga and Uchiha clans. There was no telling how many people, both in play and in battle, had fallen to a Namikaze's trap, and the Uzumaki pranksters had been the first to effectively fight fire with fire. Not that such behavior was really _unusual_ among ninja, but it just seemed that everyone consistently failed to take both clans seriously in battle.

Heaven help the poor fool who ever had to face more than one at a time.

Naruto stepped into the main hall and padded silently along it. He turned to the left at the intersection a short distance away and followed it to an apparently random doorway on the right. ". . . 'M back," he murmured.

"Welcome home, darling," Naruto's aunt greeted warmly. "You should have shouted—I could have gotten your afternoon snack ready."

"Didn't feel like it," he muttered.

"Oh, all right."

Though he was not the oldest, smartest, or fastest of the Namikaze children, Naruto was the clan's pride and joy by virtue of his father, who had been quite talented in time manipulation as well as being a ninja and was only half jokingly referred to as the clan's 'second founder.' He had never wanted or needed to exercise the power that he had, though against Orochimaru he had utilized much of it, and Naruto showed signs of having a power to match him. So Naruto got a bit of coddling, but—also like his father—was uncomfortable with being referred to as a 'genius.' When asked why, he had said in truly painfully honest Uzumaki fashion, "'Cause I'm dumb as a rock and it would be scary if that still made me a genius."

Not that Naruto was nearly as stupid as he claimed—Uzumaki tended to exaggerate the tiniest of faults into apocalyptic horrors—but two of his less-experienced cousins who were still in the academy had already both proven to be more adept shinobi, though their Time control was average. He was not self-conscious or in need of any confidence, merely realistic; leaning too heavily on his bloodline would eventually turn on him, so he worked that much harder in his training and it had slowly been paying off.

His aunt looked around at the doorway, where Kakashi and Obito were hovering. While not forbidden entry to the Namikaze grounds, efforts were made to keep all non-clan members as far from the bloodline as possible, and that meant having advanced warning of a visit so they might hide any dead giveaways that could be sitting out. "Hello, gentlemen."

Neither failed to notice that while they had been _allowed_ on the grounds and in the house, they had not been _welcomed_. "Namikaze-sama," they chorused with quiet respect, bowing to the aunt and a set of grandparents at the table behind her.

"We're going to be in Dad's room," Naruto told his aunt.

"You may not go there," she responded firmly.

The look of venom Naruto shot her was shocking and completely uncharacteristic. "I'll do what I like."

"He broke the First Law," she reminded him.

Kakashi and Obito immediately looked at one another, silently exchanging questions and exclamations regarding the new information. Their teacher had not been one to break the rules. Bend them _to_ the breaking point, yes, but not _break_ them.

Naruto snarled. "Yeah, he did. For _me_. He did it for me because of what happened to me the last time."

"He still—"

Naruto's temper snapped visibly. "He _saved this clan_, you old hag! He and I were the only ones left and I didn't know anything! That fox _killed you_! You _know_ that! And you don't have a snowball's chance of guessing what I went through while you were enjoying your little stay in purgatory! So you can take your posthumous condemnation and _shove it_!"

Naruto turned around and was promptly smacked across the face by his grandmother, who had risen from her place at the table. "You respect your elders, boy."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, darkened, and glittered dangerously in answer. "The same goes for you, Wrinkles." He swiftly sidestepped both her and the second smack she tried to aim at his face, and stormed out of the kitchen.

"He doesn't get supper," the old lady decided.

"Good," Naruto barked back from the hall. "I'd get sick all over the place if I had to eat at the same table as you anyway."

Kakashi and Obito ducked from the doorway and hurried after him, not daring to speak lest they be banished and never find out what had clearly divided the clan. As they crossed the intersection of two hallways, they heard young and excited voices chattering. "Naruto-niisama!" one called, and two sets of footsteps could be heard pattering after them in a rush.

Naruto came to a dead stop at the sound of the voice and his shoulders tightened, but then he let out a long breath and came about, a wide grin on his face just as the two children skidded around the corner and latched onto his waist. "Hey!" he greeted cheerfully, putting a hand on the back of each child. "Good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon!" they shouted back, giggling.

"Have you finished your lessons?"

"Yes!" one cried.

"Play with us!" whined the other.

The Namikaze clan was very tightly knit, and much of that was accomplished through clan 'apprenticeships,' wherein older members—ones who, if they were shinobi, had graduated from the academy and begun taking on assignments or, if not shinobi, had graduated from a secondary school and settled into a job—would be assigned part of the basic care and education of up to two younger members. All three were carefully selected so that they were cousins instead of siblings and thus usually more in need of getting acquainted. Not only did it increase relations in the clan and relieve the parents for some down time—a big requirement for the family—but it had the side benefit of making the Namikaze extremely good jounin-sensei, because they all walked into the role well aware of the proper methods to teach not only the highly intelligent students, but even the most inattentive, insufferable, and rebellious of children. It was something of a point of pride with the clan that all genin who had ever been under their watch became chuunin after three attempts, at most. And considering that they were often saddled with the delinquents who had barely scraped by in the academy, that was indeed something of note.

Naruto frowned. "I can't yet. I have to talk to my teachers."

"_Ohhhh_!"

"Give it a rest," Naruto admonished. "It'll only be an hour or so."

"You promise?"

"No," was the truthful, if blunt, response.

The two children looked at each other, then drew back. "You better come play with us as soon as you're done!" They bobbed to Kakashi and Obito, then scurried off.

Naruto folded his hands into his sleeves and continued on his way. As they turned the corner that led to their teacher's room, they happened to catch someone else leaving the very room they intended to enter. Seeing that the man had dark hair—something no Namikaze had ever had—Kakashi and Obito both reached for weapons, thinking the man had somehow snuck into the compound, but Naruto extended an arm in a quelling motion.

"Yamato?"

The man turned, briefly surprised. "Oh, Naruto-sama."

"You really don't have to call me that."

"Yes, I do."

Kakashi recognized him immediately and nudged Obito's foot with the toe of his sandal to get him to relax. Yamato, the classified reports had at last revealed after Orochimaru's death, was the only victim to survive one of Orochimaru's most heavily researched experiments. He had been infused with DNA from the Shodai as a baby, and then later done a short stint with the ANBU division. After an accident involving his team—one described simply as 'devastating' in the final report—he, the only survivor of it, vanished from Konoha's radar completely. Family of the dead ANBU were furious, demanding answers and punishment, but the Fourth had refused to give anyone any more information on the matter. Kakashi, taking in the clan attire Yamato was wearing, had a sudden inkling as to why. Obito tapped the side of his foot with one heel urgently, clearly making the connection as well, and Kakashi dropped his chin in acknowledgement.

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed. "Have it your way, then. What were you doing?"

"Just paying tribute. I owe your father a great deal."

Naruto lifted his hand absently and curled it over his headband, which he had tied around his neck that day—as he had every year—to mark the Fourth's death, but he stared at the floor and said nothing in return.

Yamato hesitated, then placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I don't know exactly what has happened," he said after a moment. "I know there's been a change, but the blood doesn't run so thick in me that I know more than that. But . . . I trust he understood what he was doing and was ready to accept full responsibility for any new hardships he caused. Whatever his reason and whatever pain it has created, he made a choice he felt was right."

"And if I said it was to ease his shame for something he did to me?"

"Your father did not try to escape shame, Naruto-sama, and he loved you more than his own life. If he hurt you somehow he would have done anything in his power to make it up to you, and he would never have let clan law stand in his way."

Naruto tilted his head and nodded a little. "Thanks, Yamato."

Yamato inclined his own head and looked up to greet Kakashi and Obito, only to realize that they were not of the clan. He swallowed nervously. ". . . Oh."

Naruto diffused the situation quickly. "They'll understand. They know—Dad trusted them completely and I trust Kakashi-sensei."

"Not me?" Obito asked.

"I don't really know who the hell you even _are_," Naruto replied without turning around. "But if Dad and Kakashi and Sasuke trust you so much, then I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Gee, thanks."

Naruto looked back over his shoulder. "I _could_ have you removed."

Obito held up his hands in placation. "Shutting up."

Kakashi stepped in then. "Understand, yes. Understand _what_? Is this about the incident?"

"It would have to be, wouldn't it?" Obito returned.

Kakashi hissed at him warningly.

"_Misasagi_," Naruto explained. "The clan's strongest offensive technique, most powerful of the three future timeseals, and one of our strongest techniques overall. It ages any given area by thousands of years. His team was surrounded and totally outnumbered. He was trying to help, but didn't have nearly the control necessary to shape the zone he wanted. It was an accident, and one of the clan's biggest errors—Sandaime-sama had told us of him and his link to the Shodai years before, but the Shodai didn't have quite the same dealings with Time that the Founder did, so we thought nothing would come of it if we let him continue to operate without instruction." He shook his head and concluded, "It's our fault those shinobi died, not his."

"I don't think so," Yamato said quietly. "I shouldn't have used a skill that I had never practiced with. It was extremely foolish."

"I do," Obito countered. "This clan does too good a job of isolating themselves in plain view. Unless they have to interact with non-family for at least nine hours every single day, they don't consider how their behavior affects others. Kakashi?"

Kakashi sighed to himself. Obito was probably expecting backup. "You're all right. It's incredibly stupid and extremely dangerous to use a new technique or part of a kekkei genkai's power when the user has no experience with it even in a controlled setting. With that said, though, if this clan knew then they should have assumed that there _would_ be an incident and that it would be a huge one. If they had given even the most basic training in Time control, it's possible lives could have been saved." He looked at Yamato, then at Naruto. "I'd say it's both your fault _and_ the fault of the clan."

Yamato seemed quite relieved that they did not blame him blindly for it and dipped his head in appreciation. "Thank you. I—"

"_Yamato-kun_!" someone called from somewhere else in the house.

Yamato raised his voice. "Just a moment!" He bowed to them swiftly—"Excuse me."—and they watched him disappear around the corner.

Naruto pushed open the door to his father's room.

"It's good that you all are protecting him," Obito decided as he entered.

"Dad was livid," Naruto explained, "when he found out that the elders had known about Yamato having a few skills with Time and yet hadn't done a thing—not even _mentioned_ it. He felt it was something of an obligation. Not only had a good team been wiped out, but the only survivor had been scared out of his mind when he saw what had happened to his teammates."

"I would be, too, knowing how much they'd probably suffered. ANBU teams are closer than they really should be."

Naruto stopped and turned to him.

Obito stopped as well, blinked, then asked, "You mean he _doesn't_ know that?"

"Unlike the other two future timeseals, Misasagi _will_ affect the one performing the jutsu if that person is within the specified radius. In most cases, we distance ourselves from enemies to avoid that and because it takes more time and chakra to isolate people we don't want to harm. Yamato, in his case, was in a tree observing his team's pending annihilation while he sought for a way to at least allow his allies the opportunity to run. His reaction was desperate and quite instinctive; he probably would be dead himself, but was at enough of a distance to be just beyond the range he had eventually settled on. To him, everything within the misasagi happened instantaneously. He did not see or hear it as it occurred, only the aftermath. Dad forbid us from ever telling him otherwise, and if you do it, I'll kill you in his stead."

Obito frowned, unaffected by the threat both because he was a ninja and because if it was a rule his teacher had set down, he intended to obey it. "Oh. Sensitive type, isn't he?"

"One day I'll show you the Misasagi," Naruto told him. "You'll be 'sensitive,' too."

"You know it?"

Kakashi shoved him. "Don't—be—stupid. Of _course_ he knows."

"I'm probably not supposed to," Naruto said, "but Dad thought I should. I had enough chakra control, so he taught me."

Kakashi stepped into his teacher's room and was nearly knocked down by the mild earthy scent of the cologne his teacher had started to wear more after becoming Hokage, which meant he could wear some stuff that was distinctly not natural and not have to worry too much if it would help get him killed. It was actually not very strong, but the memories were. He watched Naruto crawl under the covers of the bed and snuggle down into them like a child. It had been six years to the day since the Fourth's death, but the clan—and Naruto more so—still felt the loss acutely. It was one of the downsides to the whole clan being so close; they mourned deeply and for a long time in private, only covering the pain with cheer for the benefit of others.

The biggest upside to the Fourth's death was that he, rather than Naruto, had been the one to die. If it had been the latter, the former would have been devastated far beyond mere broken-heartedness. Second only to Time, the Namikaze worshipped children, and it was a terrible blow to the entire clan when one died—the only instances when they were ever quiet for more than three days in a row. Orochimaru had ambushed father and son while they were practicing, and Kakashi was easily able to envision his teacher's efforts to clear any possible escape route for Naruto. When that had failed, Kakashi had no doubt that the man's paternal instincts had kicked into overdrive. Even though Naruto had been skilled enough to hold his position—there had been signs that he had made a great deal of use of the one fire technique Sasuke had, at the time, taught him—that had been about the only thing he could do, aside from the occasional support maneuver.

Unfortunately, precisely how the mutual deaths of Orochimaru and the Fourth Hokage occurred was still a mystery years later. Naruto, the only witness, had been knocked unconscious by Orochimaru—quite likely would have been dead by that point had he not been utilizing his bloodline—near the end of the battle and did not remember being found by the team of ANBU sent to assist, who reported that he had been howling hoarsely over his father's broken body by the time they arrived. He had nearly killed them when they tried to peel him away from the cooling corpse, and to protect themselves they had been forced to render him unconscious a second time. Apparently, his mind had leaped at the opportunity to forget, and no one had blamed him.

Still, that was the recurring problem with strong and fast shinobi—their battles were done with so quickly. Toss in time manipulation and that shaved the duration that much more. It simply left too much room for blood to be lost, too much room for Death to saunter into the scene and take what he liked as casually as he desired, too much room for pain to take hold . . .

Obito sniffed lightly. "Why . . .?"

"Mom," Naruto answered quietly. "Whenever she comes to spend the night she sprays it all over the room. I don't know why," he murmured, scratching one fingernail absently against the pillow beneath his head, "because she doesn't cry any less if she does it."

Technically, since Naruto's mother was not of the clan, she was allowed to visit only and not stay. Despite her closeness to the family as the wife—and then widow—of the clan's most powerful member as well as being mother to his sole heir, she did not know much more about Time than Kakashi or Obito did. That was the clan's Fifth Law, that only blood knew anything substantial about Time, and the Fourth had held to it because he had known it would protect them all. Instead, he had bent the visitation rule by having her drop by in the evening, since that was the only time they had been able to see each other anyway, and had her spend the night. In the morning she would go to the apartment he had provided for her as an apology, bathe and get her clothes changed, and go the Hokage's office, where Naruto and the Fourth would be waiting with the breakfast that someone in the clan had put together for her. She was forbidden, but not out of hatred, so she probably drifted by often during the nights and slept either in the clan quarters with Naruto or—more likely, considering Naruto's age—in the bed in her husband's room rather than the one in her apartment, and everyone just looked the other way.

"She knows why she does it," Kakashi said as he closed the door to the room and pulled the chair away from the desk in the corner for himself. "Try not to worry so much."

Naruto nodded, and then sat up after a long stretch of silence. "_Seihen_."

Kakashi and Obito exchanged a look and then Obito echoed meekly, "'Seihen'?"

"Seihen is the Change of Times," Naruto explained. "It's the clan's most powerful skill and requires many years of study to understand it well enough to execute it without causing the universe to implode."

"That's an exaggeration," Obito said, "right?"

Naruto just looked at him.

Obito grimaced. "Er . . . What does it do?"

Kakashi dug his elbow into his best friend's ribs, not wanting to cause Naruto to close up after revealing a bloodskill that was clearly extremely dangerous. "It alters time, moron." Obito stuck his tongue out in response, but Kakashi did not notice. He had already looked down at the crinkled paper that was still folded in his hand the same way it had been in Naruto's before that and frowned.

_Time alters all wounds._

"The Seihen allows someone to travel as far back into the past as he has chakra for and make modifications to any event he desires," Naruto clarified, "which in turn makes the appropriate adjustments in future events. It relies on Time alone, though; since we can't control people, it's considered a passive technique rather than an active offensive or defensive one."

"And Sensei did that?" Kakashi concluded. Naruto nodded again and he could not help but ask, "_Why_?"

Naruto flopped back onto the full-size bed and gazed at the ceiling with a faintly melancholic expression. "Imagine a world where your friend there died in that rock fall the Rock-nin caused. Imagine that not long after your friend's death, the kyuubi attacks Konoha and kills thousands of people. To stop it, the Fourth Hokage seals it away into a newborn child and also dies. Imagine that six years after _that_, Uchiha Itachi gets it into his head that the genocide of his clan is a _good_ idea, tops it off with parricide, just _barely_ decides to not add fratricide to the list, and scurries out of the village. Another six years later—after failing every other academy-prepared team that came your way—you get saddled with Team Seven, which is comprised of a conceited genius, a semi-ditzy fangirl, and a dead-last moron. You teach them a few things and toss them into the chuunin exams after a few D-rank assignments and one A-rank."

"_A-rank_?" Kakashi and Obito blurted simultaneously.

"The man who requested assistance lied about the danger level."

They nodded. Such things happened often.

Naruto sighed. "Anyway, the exam's third round is interrupted by Orochimaru, who has been lurking in the background for years and years, and his band of ugly and less-than-merry men. He kills the Third—and many others by association—and one of his spoils of war is the conceited genius, who's all about revenge and shit. The genius leaves, the moron tries to get him back, they have a big fight and nearly deal mutual deathblows before the genius gets in a lucky punch and staggers off while the moron is unconscious. Three years later, with the assistance of a far less semi-ditzy fangirl, the not-such-a-moron tries to get the genius back again. Nothing is resolved, though it's pretty much common knowledge that Uchiha Itachi didn't have the grace to drop dead while the moron was out training . . . Did I mention that he briefly showed himself between the third-round prelims and the third round itself?

"Well, after two long years of scrapes and bruises and many more failures to retrieve His Assholiness, the runaway genius, the not-such-a-moron—who, by the way, is the one the Fourth sealed the kyuubi in—is eventually lured to the den of the S-class oinin Uchiha Itachi has joined up with. This particular group is trying to take over the world by collecting the bijuu, and they naturally want the kyuubi, but until that point the not-such-a-moron had been behaving like he actually did have a brain. It slips away for just a moment and he's captured by the leader of the group, who is actually . . ." Naruto looked over at them and said in a low voice, almost as though he was telling a ghost story, ". . . the Fourth Hokage."

"_WHAT_?!" Obito screeched.

Kakashi watched Naruto carefully, confused but not daring to call the boy a liar.

"As for your friend, you think he's dead for . . . oh, about twenty years . . . and then find out that he _is_ still alive, just disfigured, has near-total amnesia, and has become a brand new member of the strongest group of dickheads around. He assists in the capture of the not-such-a-moron as well as in the extraction of the kyuubi. Imagine a world like that."

Kakashi looked over at Obito, who had his head tilted and was peering back at him with his one good eye. He could not truly imagine a world without his idiot best friend. ". . . I can't."

"Well I can. I grew up there."

Obito snorted, but once again Kakashi remained quiet and gazed at his student. He had already noticed Naruto's unusual behavior and he thought the idea of a world like that was not so farfetched. Even right at that moment Naruto was watching him in turn, eyes sharp in a way they had not been just the day before, somehow both expectant and not expectant at the same time. It occurred to him suddenly that the young man sitting in front of him, despite the outward appearance, was a total stranger.

"Who are you?" he asked, and ignored the confused look Obito gave him.

Naruto smirked. "Turned around already?"

"If you're telling the truth about this," Kakashi replied, "and I tend to think you are because that's an odd story to make up, then I technically have no idea who you are."

The smirk widened, then faded into a sigh. "It's a shame I finally pull one over on you when I'm not actually trying to." He shook his head. "Listen, everything is true. Everything I said as well as everything you know about my childhood. They've both happened, but Dad using the Seihen has caused what you know to overwrite what I know. I can't show you what I know and prove that it happened because Time is linear and Dad has wiped it completely out of existence by changing history."

"That's convenient," Obito noted.

Kakashi turned to him. "Would you shut up and let the adults discuss this?"

"It just seems like he's trying to blow sunshine up your ass, okay?"

"Obito, please. Why would he bother? He knows better than to think I'd pity him and he can't be an imposter because his family would have already dealt with him."

"It's just too—"

"Plausible?" Kakashi inserted sharply, and Obito shifted uneasily. Bingo. "What, you think you wouldn't have become one of the bad guys if Sensei had been there? You're so sentimental I know you would have."

"How the hell would _you_ know, you perfectionist bastard?"

"Because if I lost most of my memory, _I_ would join him," Kakashi returned immediately.

Obito was silent in response to the admission.

"Don't think so highly of me," Kakashi told him. "I'm as much a sentimentalist."

"Guys," Naruto interrupted firmly. "_Stop_. It doesn't matter what either of you would do, because Dad is dead and that world no longer exists. You wanted to know, so I told you. I honestly don't care if you believe me or not—_I_ know I'm telling the truth."

Knowing he would have plenty of time later to argue the topic with Obito, Kakashi held up the note Naruto had discarded. "And what does this mean, in the scope of things?"

"Common consensus has it that Time will heal all wounds," Naruto replied, "but that's not strictly true. Healing is not a part of Time's power. Time only distances you from an event that caused you pain and makes it seem as though the hurt has faded. If you continue to cling to that pain, however, the passage of Time does nothing; it's up to you to heal your own heart." He nodded at the note. "Dad was reminding me to not dwell on the timeline I came from and instead embrace the new one that was created for me. Only if I do that will I be able to appreciate this place and make his efforts worth anything."

"Are you going to do it?" Obito asked.

Naruto sat up and tilted his head at that. "Dad sacrificed himself four times—twice in the lost timeline and twice in this one—for my happiness. After sixteen years, it won't be easy for me to turn away from those memories even the slightest bit; they are what made me who I am and they are important to me. I will, however, find a way to accept this new timeline, whether or not I like it. Time, after all, is linear—there is only one existence for us to live at any given moment. Not even the clan has the ability to multiply Time."

Kakashi frowned at his student, then looked over at Obito, who was staring back at him. He refocused on Naruto. "This only just barely makes sense."

Naruto smiled grimly at that. "You don't have to know the truth to live in it. All you need to do is appreciate the life you have now, because once upon a time the life you were fortunate enough to forget was a hell you never want to revisit."

* * *

_Timekeeper_ and the _Timespan_ triad have concluded.

_Timesaver_ quadrilogy to be (eventually) continued . . .

* * *

**Answers To Questions You Didn't Even Know You Wanted To Ask:**

**Wait, Naruto's team is Team **_**Six**_**?**

Well, as discussed above by Naruto, Kakashi, and Obito, changing one thing can alter many others. In this case, the Fourth's changing the past somehow caused Team Seven to become Team Six instead. Don't ask me how because I don't know—I only write the story.

—

**How come Naruto's the only chuunin?**

Mainly, I did it simply because everyone **but** Naruto (and Sasuke, but he voluntarily gave up on that as far as I'm concerned) is a chuunin by the time of Part II/_Shippuuden_, so it's something of a twist. Not that Sakura and Sasuke are idiots, they just don't have the same benefits as in canon. Sakura chose to be an iryounin right off, and not entirely to get close to Naruto and Sasuke; she would most likely let her taijutsu skills slip to apply the proper focus to healing. Sasuke, having his family still around, would probably not have learned Chidori and definitely would not have had Orochimaru's power to feed from; he would most certainly not be easy to beat, but it's entirely possible he could lose. And without Sasuke and Naruto pushing each other to succeed as impatiently and violently as in canon, Kakashi would probably be a bit less likely to offer them as exam fodder before he _knew_ they were all ready.

—

**Sasuke's not an asshole?**

Nope. Damn shame, ain't it? Hard to hate him when he's half decent.

—

**What about Itachi?**

He didn't, presumably, decide to hack up his family tree this time around.

—

**They have a sister?**

Why not?

—

**Naruto's bad at Kawarimi no Jutsu? What about Bunshin no Jutsu?**

This is something I built on from a discussion with someone (whose name I cannot recall, I'm afraid—I'm sorry) in the _Door Number Two_ reviews. We came to the conclusion that Naruto is so bad with clones because they are pure illusion. In Japanese lore, kitsune illusions are actually of very high quality and completely tactile to both them and us, so a normal clone would clash with that, and it's possible that would be a trait Naruto would pick up from the kyuubi. Shadow clones, on the other hand, are physical forms, so the same does not apply to them and would help explain why he's so much better with them.

The application of that theory to the Kawarimi is as follows: Taking into account what the Time bloodlimit allows the user to do, such a replacement is totally unnecessary in comparison because slowing or increasing the passage of time is as good as or better than replacing oneself with something. Rather than taking the time to find something to replace yourself with, you can simply slow/increase time itself and **move**. As a result, Uzumakis in general are bad with Kawarimi no Jutsu, but some are worse than others.

—

"**I'd discipline him for cheating and then lying****—****and I still will if someone can **_**prove**_** he did either****—****but that's the kind of thing he'll have to be able to do as a field agent."**

Though I hadn't intended it, this reminds me of a quote that I believe I found on DeviantArt, but the one who came up with it is unknown to me: "If at first you don't succeed, cheat, repeat until caught, and then lie."

—

**Okay, so if Sasuke and Obito are cousins once removed . . . what does that mean?**

It means that Obito is first cousins with either Mikoto or Fugaku. Hell, since they're all inbred anyway, he might be first cousins with **both** of them (that doesn't necessarily mean Mikoto and Fugaku are also first cousins, I don't think, but try not to think about it either way). To clarify: Your first cousin is the child of your aunt/uncle. If your first cousin has a child, that child is your cousin once removed.

—

**What's 'Shodai'?**

_Shodai_ is 'founder' or 'first generation.' Though I have been told that at least one of the _Naruto_ video games refers to the First Hokage as 'Shodaime,' I have never heard him referred to as anything but 'Shodai' in the anime. As far as I know, neither is dead wrong, but since the anime is all I can personally draw from at this point, I'm sticking with 'Shodai.'

—

**Yamato is part of the Namikaze clan?**

By virtue of his connection to the First Hokage, yes.

—

**Who is 'the Founder'?**

The Founder is, obviously, the one who started the Namikaze clan and was probably very good with Time manipulation. Exactly who he is will be covered in _Time Frame_, but there is a hint here in _Timekeeper_, implying a close connection between the Shodai and the Founder. If you want to guess it, I'll let you know whether you're right or wrong.

—

**What is the 'Misasagi'?**

_Misasagi_ is 'emperor's tomb' or 'imperial tomb.' It is the third and strongest of the three "future timeseals" and permanently ages a given area by a thousand years. The chosen zone **can** be shaped to the user's preference, but it takes a lot of time and extra chakra. The user **must** stay outside the desired range or s/he will also be affected by the power of the skill. What occurs within the misasagi is instantaneous from the perspective of an outside party, including the user; studying the remains of victims has shown that the perspective from the inside is not as merciful. It is a powerful technique, but uses an amount of chakra proportionate to the size of the chosen zone. The zone cannot be moved once the user has begun to form the proper seals, so knowledgeable enemies can escape if they notice in time and the zone is small enough. Because of its permanence, Misasagi is an offensive S-rank technique that covers all ranges.

—

**What's 'seihen' again?**

_Seihen_ is 'change of times.' This is a technique that allows the user to travel into the past and so influence the future. It only controls Time, however, and not the free will of people. As a result, there is no guarantee that using this technique will change the future in the way the user desires. It is most dangerous in that the user, if s/he is not concentrating on the date s/he desires, might possibly become lost in the flow of time. A similar lack of care could disturb the flow of time so badly that it becomes irreparable and causes mass deaths that could have a devastating effect on the existence of the future. Though actually a passive C-rank technique on its own, skill with chakra manipulation is heavily required for the user to safely achieve the specific date he/she wishes to arrive at. That requirement elevates Seihen to a passive A-rank technique with a range that cannot be physically measured but is proportionate to chakra expenditure.

—

**Is there a sequel?**

Several. _Timeserver_ is part one of the _Timespan_ triad and the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy. The second part of the _Timespan_ triad and _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is _Timescale_. The final part of the _Timespan_ triad and third part of the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is _Timekeeper_. The fourth and final part of the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy is the multi-chapter _Naruto_/_Okami_ crossover fic _Time Frame_.

—

**What do you mean by 'eventually' concluded?**

I mean that _Time Frame_ has to be posted to complete the _Timesaver_ quadrilogy. However, I haven't broken ground on _Time Frame_ at all, so it's nowhere near even being partly done. I'm not going to be posting chapters for it for a _very long_ time, so please don't ask or wait with baited breath—you **will** suffocate. The _Timespan_ triad are standalone, so I feel no urgency to work on _Time Frame_ at this moment, particularly since I have far older and more complete pieces to finish, clean up, and post. I'll get to _Time Frame_ one of these days.

—

You know how good milk comes from happy cows, and happy cows come from California? Well, good stories come from happy authors, and happy authors come from reviews. So, please review.

~RN (LS)


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